1000 Words
by lilypop8
Summary: Moving to Tokyo was a hard decision on her life. She didn't know Japanese and nothing about Japan. So what's Elizabeth going to do now? "Well...at least there are some people who know English here." She has a 1000 Words to be said. EijixOC! Later FujixOC!
1. Chapter 1: Enter Elizabeth Boyer

Sinking back in the passenger seat of my Aunt Jenny's car, I looked out the window at the dark filled streets, passing a street lamp here and there. Hi, my name is Elizabeth Boyer, and I've just arrived here in Japan. I originally lived in Georgia, but…

"Don't worry, Lizzy. I'm sure you'll love it here." Aunt Jenny assured me as she drove down a dark, empty street in the neighborhood.

"I'm not worrying." I said as I gazed upon each house we passed by. Recently…I had lost my parents in a car accident. After my Aunt Jenny and Uncle James found out, they asked me to come live with them in Tokyo, Japan. Uncle James is my father's younger brother. I had only met him and his wife once when I was little, so I really knew nothing about them. The only thing I really knew about them was that they had lived in Tokyo for a few years and have ever since.

"All right, here we are." My aunt announced, pulling into a driveway.

I didn't hesitate to open the door and step right out of it. I'm not too fond of cars, really. The house was a nice two-story. The outside it was painted a beige color and there was a garden out front. I remember when I had first met Aunt Jenny she had asked me if I liked to garden. 'A little…' I had replied. Aunt Jenny became ecstatic with my answer. For two hours straight, I had to sit and listen to her talk about gardening and flowers. I remember wanting to smother her with a pillow back then…

"Lizzy, do you need help with your bags?" My aunt questioned as she opened the back of her car door to her Mustang.

I peeled my eyes off from the front of my house and looked over to my aunt who eyed me curiously. "That would be great." I replied as I walked over and grabbed a couple of my bags from the back. I didn't have all my stuff with me, but then again, I never really had much stuff to begin with. I guess you could say I'm not much of a teenage girl… But I believe the less stuff you have the less often you have to clean.

Aunt Jenny slammed shut the door and gave me a quick smile before heading up the steps. I silently followed behind her. "James is really excited to see you again." Aunt Jenny smiled down at me.

"Uh, yeah, same," I nodded.

"Honey! We're home." Aunt Jenny called out, kicking off her high heels at the door. I stopped for a moment, a bit puzzled_. Should I kick my shoes off too?_ I wondered. I shrugged to myself. _Why not?_ And kicked them off, quickly catching up to Aunt Jenny who was nearly heading up the stairs.

Aunt Jenny led me down a small hallway and into a medium sized room on the left side of the hallway. The walls were painted a dark purple and the trim was a dark green. There was a bed on the left side and a window was above it. I also saw a desk against the wall next to the bed.

"I hope its not too small or anything. Your uncle actually built this room last year in case you ever wanted to come and visit us." Aunt Jenny said as she settled my suit case on my bed. "Ever since that day when you were little, he's always wanted you to come visit us. He used to have a room for you, a little further down the hallway, but eventually he started to use that as his office."

I felt my lips twitch into a small smile. "That's nice of him." I said.

"Yeah, well, you are his favorite niece." Aunt Jenny chuckled.

"I'm his only niece."

Aunt Jenny laughed and walked over to me, giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "You're my favorite niece too." She whispered softly into my ear.

"Thanks." I nodded.

Aunt Jenny pulled back, smiling. "Your uncle it probably asleep so I'll go wake him up. Dinner will be ready in an hour." I nodded again and turned to watch her leave, closing the door behind herself. I turned around again and walked to my bed, sitting on it. Sighing to myself I grabbed my backpack and unzipped one of the pockets, pulling out a picture of a man smiling happily while a woman held a small child in her arms. I sat the picture down on my desk and stared at it.

"I miss you both." I whispered, the emotion of sadness running through me.

"Elizabeth!" I jumped, frightened at the sudden loud, rough sounding voice shouting throughout the house, and then my door slammed wide open.

I swiftly turned my head and stared at the man in my doorway. He had black hair that was tied into a small pony tail and he had light brown eyes. Eyes that reminded me of my fathers…

"Uncle James." I smiled at him as I stood up.

My uncle walked up to me and picked me up, making me slight dizzy.

"You're as thin as ever, Elizabeth." He pointed out, "I can still pick you up."

"Thanks…?" I uttered as he slowly sat me on the ground.

"Sorry 'bout that." He grinned rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

"It's alright." I replied. Uncle James suddenly held out his arms and smiled at me. I just stood there a bit confused.

"C'mon, give me a hug. I won't bite." He laughed.

I nodded and wrapped my arms around him. He patted my back slightly and stepped back.

"You've grown so much." He said.

I nodded my head and turned around and opened my suit case, getting ready to unpack, "Yeah, well, that's what happens if you haven't seen someone in a long time." I replied.

"Sorry. We would have visited you and your parents a lot if Jenny and I got the chance. We were always so busy though…" Uncle James explained.

"It doesn't matter anymore." I mumbled as I hung some clothes in the closet.

"Elizabeth…I know you're going through a hard time right now, we all are. But remember, your aunt and I are here for you." Uncle James said sincerely.

"I know. Thanks"

The goofy grin of his appeared on his face once again as he wrapped an arm around my neck, "We have a lot of catching up to do. You, me, and your aunt," He said.

"Yeah…"

"All right, I better go help your aunt with dinner. If you need any help with anything just give me a holler." My uncle said as he released me and left the room as I continued to unpack.

"Lizzy, dinner is done! Please come down and eat!" Aunt Jenny shouted.

I sighed and packed my last suit case into the closet before heading down stairs.

"Oi! Elizabeth! C'mere for a second," Uncle James spoke as i entered the kitchen. I did as he said and walked over to him. That's when I noticed a woman, besides Aunt Jenny, sat across from him. She had very dark brown hair, almost black, and purple colored eyes. She was actually very pretty.

"Elizabeth, I would like you to meet a good friend of your aunt's and mine, Naoki Jun. Jun-san this is my niece, Boyer Elizabeth." Uncle James said.

"Hajimemashite," I blinked at her. Her eyes widened a tiny bit as she saw the confused expression I had.

"Oh! I am so sorry. I didn't know you couldn't speak Japanese. I-I just thought… I-I'm so sorry for confusing you." Jun bowed a couple of times with a nervous expression upon her face.

"Ah, that's alright. The move here was kind of unexpected so I didn't have any time to learn Japanese." I replied. _Not like I wanted to in the first place though. Truthfully, if I had a choice, I would learn Germen…_But that was something I would not say out loud. I hated being rude. …Sometimes.

Jun blinked and slowly straightened herself. She looked at me for a moment and then smiled softly at me. I did the same back to her.

"I see now. Well, let me try again. It's nice to meet you, Elizabeth." She said as she once again bowed.

"It's nice to meet you too, Miss Naoki." I nodded.

"You can just call me Jun. No formal stuff or any honorifics." Jun said.

"All right, then you can just call me Lizzy." I said back. "Everyone calls me that."

"Jun will be joining us for dinner. You don't mind do you?" Aunt Jenny asked me as she took a seat down at the table.

"I don't mind. And plus it is your house." I replied as I took a seat next to her.

"Great! Now who's ready to eat?" Aunt Jenny questioned as she started to dish out the food into our bowls.

I looked down at mine with a strange look. I never had this kind of soup before. I'm kind of afraid to eat it.

"Huh? What's wrong, Lizzy?" Jun asked me.

"Um…I was just wondering what kind of soup this was…" I said as I continued to stare at it.

"It's called Miso Soup. Go ahead and give it a try. I'm sure you'll love it." Aunt Jenny assured me.

I took the pair of chop sticks that lied next to the bowl (She has eaten sushi before) and grabbed some of noodles in it before taking a bit. And let me tell you it was delicious!

"I like it." I said amazed.

"I'm glad. Jun helped me make it," My aunt said motioning towards Jun who smiled at me.

"So, Elizabeth, your aunt and I decided to enroll you in public school. I hope you don't mind…?" Uncle James suddenly spoke up.

"Public school?"

"That's right. You'll be attending Seishun Academy, this coming Thursday." My aunt smiled. I was somewhat speechless.

"I know that you have been home schooled since you were five, but I think public school will be a good change for you. You're fourteen years old and you need to socialize." Uncle James said as Aunt Jenny grabbed his bowel and filled it up with more soup. Then he began to mumble, "Apparently your father thought you didn't need to socialize. That you only need him and your mother…"

Can't argue there. I once asked mom why I couldn't go to public school. She said dad would be very jealous if his precious daughter was to be stolen away by friends… I love my dad, but he's crazy.

"It sounds fine to me." I shrugged. I had no problem what-so-ever.

"Lizzy, how would you like if I gave you rides there and home everyday?" Jun suggested, smiling at me.

"That would be fine. But, won't it bother you with your work?" I asked. Well…if she did work.

"Lizzy, she's actually your schools nurse." Aunt Jenny explained.

I looked back at Jun a bit surprised. "That's right. And if you ever have a bad day at school and need someone to talk to you can come and visit me anytime." Jun nodded.

"That would be…great."

"Wonderful!" Jun and Aunt Jenny beamed.

"I hope we become great friends." Jun smiled.

I smiled back. "Me too,"

"Thanks for inviting me over." Jun spoke as she grabbed her jacket.

"It was no problem. We love it when you come over." Aunt Jenny replied.

Jun smiled at her before turning to me, "Lizzy, do you like tennis?" she asked.

"It's okay. But I don't really play it." I said from next to Aunt Jenny.

"Well I was thinking that maybe tomorrow you would like to come with me to watch some street tennis." Jun said.

"That sounds nice. Aunt Jenny, Uncle James, can I go?" I asked turning to my guardians.

"Yes you can go." They both approved.

"Thank you!"

"All right, I'll pick you up around seven-thirty. Tomorrow night," Jun said.

"Okay."

"See you tomorrow!" Jun called as she left the house and climbed into her car. The three of us waved good-bye to her as she drove around the corner.

"I better go get those dishes cleaned up." Aunt Jenny suddenly spoke as she left back inside.

"Do you need any help?" I asked.

"Don't worry, dear. I got it." She replied.

Uncle James ruffled my hair as he started to head up stairs, "I better go get some paper work done." He then left.

I didn't know what to do after that so I decided to go take a shower and get ready for bed. After gathering my toiletries I headed to the bathroom and turned on the hot water faucet. I stripped myself of my clothes and stepped in, letting the hot water sooth me. Hopefully I would be able to get to sleep tonight. I was dead tired.


	2. Chapter 2: Street Tennis!

"Lizzy, breakfast it ready!"

"Coming!" I replied as I pulled on my last sock and quickly ran down stairs. After recently losing my parents to a car accident, I moved in with my aunt and uncle in Tokyo, Japan just yesterday and had met one of their friends, Naoki Jun, who is also the nurse at the school I will be attending to tomorrow. Tonight, Jun and I will be going to watch some street tennis that she had invited me to.

I soon entered the kitchen where my aunt Jenny was. My uncle James was drinking some coffee and reading the newspaper while he sat at the table.

"Good morning." I spoke giving them both a soft smile at I seated myself at the table.

"Good morning, Elizabeth." My uncle nodded as he sat down the newspaper and smiled at me.

"Did you sleep okay?" Aunt Jenny asked.

"Yes, very. I love the room. Thank you." I replied.

"No need to thank us, Elizabeth." My uncle said.

I smiled as Aunt Jenny sat a plate of food in front of me. I said my thanks to her and started to eat the scrambled eggs she had cooked up. I was really grateful that they had asked me to come live with them when they heard the news of my parent's death. They were in fact my only relatives left.

"Well, I better head to work." Uncle James suddenly spoke as he stood up and straightened his tie.

"I'll see you out." Aunt Jenny said as she stood up.

"See you at dinner time, Elizabeth." My uncle James said as he gave me a kiss on the forehead and slung an around his wife's waist as they both left the kitchen.

"Have a good day at work." I mumbled although he couldn't hear me.

After I finished off the food on my plate I picked up the glasses and other plates and started to wash them. My aunt soon came back in with a small smile on her face.

"Oh, Lizzy, you don't have to do that." She said as she walked over to me.

"It's okay. I don't mind and plus I just want to be helpful." I replied as I sat the last dish in the cupboard.

"That's so sweet of you." Aunt Jenny smiled.

"Well, it's the least I can do since you and Uncle James took me in." I nodded.

"Yes, well now you have twelve hours until Jun arrives, so how about we go shopping." Aunt Jenny suggested as she wrapped her arms around my waist.

"That sounds…fun." I agreed.

"And maybe I can teach you a little Japanese. Well, just the basics first and then the harder stuff,"

"That would come in handy." I laughed a little.

"Then it's settled. I'll go get my purse. Meet me out in the car!" Aunt Jenny exclaimed as she hurried out of the kitchen and upstairs.

_"She kind of reminds me of a teenage girl." _I thought as I walked into the hallway grabbing my shoes and slipping them on. On my way out I grabbed a light jacket, just in case it might be chilly out and slipped it on. After that I opened the front door and walked towards my aunt's Mustang.

"You can get it. I unlocked it from upstairs." Aunt Jenny said as she walked out of the house and locked the front door.

"Okay." I replied as I opened the door and slipped in.

A moment later my aunt slipped into the driver's seat next to me and started to car. Soon we were heading down the street.

"So, Lizzy, tell me about yourself." Aunt Jenny suddenly spoke up after a moment of silence.

"Well…what do you want to know?" I questioned.

"Hm, well, your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and stuff like that." She replied.

"Okay. I like the color purple, school work, and I like animals. I dislike rap but every other kind of music is okay. I also dislike leeks. My hobbies are basketball and photography." I said slightly dully.

"I never seen someone who likes school work." My aunt giggled. I turned and slightly gave her a small playful glare before turning back towards the window.

"I guess I just find it…fun." I shrugged.

"Does that mean you get good grades?" she asked.

"Not really. I sometimes get F's. Mostly in world history though. I'm pretty good in everything else."

"I was never good in Math, if that makes you happy." She grinned.

"Hmm…"

"What?" she questioned as she turned into a parking lot.

"Nothing. Just thinking," I replied once she stopped the car. After she unlocked the doors I stepped out and looked around. It looked like a mall.

"This mall has a lot of cute shops in it." Aunt Jenny squealed as she grabbed my hand and started to drag me off into the hell pit as I dubbed it.

It's not like I hate shopping. I actually think shopping is quite fun, but its malls I can't stand. I can't stand all the people, I hate being crowded.

"Cute!" my aunt squealed as she dragged me into a store.

* * *

_**(11 hours later…)**_

"We…we have been shopping for ten hours! Can we please go home now?" I asked as I walked out the store carrying about fifteen bags. During our shopping time, I had learned a few basic Japanese words, but not many since I got a bit confused half of the time.

"Actually, we've been shopping for eleven hours." Aunt Jenny corrected me.

"Jun is going to come to pick me up in an hour. So, can we please go home now?" I asked once again as I gave my aunt the puppy dog eyes.

"Alright, alright. I was getting a tiny bit tired anyways." She finally agreed.

_"A…a tiny bit?" _I thought as we continued our way towards the exit.

"Kyaa! Isn't that boy cute, Lizzy?" I heard my aunt ask as she pointed her finger past my face. I blinked and looked over to where she was pointing. He had red hair and a band aid on his cheek. He was smiling happily with a couple of friends.

"Cute in a kid-ish way," I bluntly replied stepping out of the sliding doors.

My aunt slightly sulked and ran to catch up to me. For a moment there I was kind of hoping she would fall face first on the ground since she was running in high heels, but I really don't want that to happen to her. But I also don't want her to whine to me about boys.

"Lizzy, don't you like boys? You are a teenager." She said as she stuck out her bottom lip.

I sighed and grabbed the keys from her hands, knowing she wasn't going to open the car doors anytime soon. I clicked the trunk open and sat all the shopping bags in it.

"Yes, I like boys." I nodded as I climbed into the passenger's seat. My aunt Jenny soon climbed in the driver's seat and I handed her the keys so she could start the car.

"It didn't seem like you were interested…" she mumbled.

"I'm not always going to be interested in every boy I see." I said.

"I guess that is true." And so the conversation soon switched to a different topic, once that I liked, school. We talked about school all the way home. It was a way better topic then boys right now.

Once we got home my aunt Jenny and I grabbed the bags and headed in. After she struggled to unlock the door I walked inside and upstairs to my room, dropping off my bag and digging out a plain purple tank top and some black jeans. When I got to the bathroom I grabbed my hair brush and started to brush my auburn colored hair. I was thinking about going to get it cut again; it was already past my mid-back. After brushing my hair I changed my outfits and walked down stairs.

"Jun is going to be here any minute. Are you finished getting ready?" Aunt Jenny asked me as she looked me over.

"Yes, I'm ready. And we're just going to go watch street tennis." I said as grabbed my jacket from the couch, slipping it on.

"I know, but you never know if there is going to be a cute boy around." My aunt giggled. I rolled my eyes playfully and chuckled. She really did remind me of a teenage girl.

"Oh, I think I heard a car door slam. It must be Jun!" Aunt Jenny exclaimed as she hurried to the door. I followed her behind slowly as I checked my pants pocket for my cell phone.

"Konnichiwa, Jenny-chan," Jun spoke with a soft smile.

"Konnichiwa, Jun-chan," Aunt Jenny giggled as Jun slid inside.

"Lizzy! Are you ready to go?" Jun asked as she looked over my way.

"Yes." I replied.

"Alright, I'll have her back in an hour or so." Jun said as aunt Jenny nodded.

"Alright, Lizzy when you get home your dinner will be in the fridge. Your uncle might be still up but I'm going to bed early tonight." Aunt Jenny told me as she gave me a kiss on the forehead.

"Okay. I'll make sure to be quite when I pass your room." I nodded. Aunt Jenny smiled at me and then Jun.

"Have fun you two." She told us as she left the house.

"We will!" Jun happily replied before turning down a block.

"So how far is the tennis…place?" I asked.

"Well, since we are walking it's about four minutes away." I nodded as we continued to walk side by side down the street.

"So, are you excited to start your first day of school tomorrow?" Jun questioned me.

I nodded my head slightly as I looked up to the sky, "Yeah, I actually am. As you heard I've never been to public school before, so it should be interesting."

"Well, if you have any questions you can come and ask me anytime you want." Jun said as she ruffled my hair slightly.

"Thanks." I smiled brightly at her.

"Since school starts at eight, I'll come pick you up at seven thirty tomorrow morning, is that alright?"

"That's fine."

"Alright, we're almost there." Jun announced as she started up some steps. I slowly followed after her, while looking at the people who passed by.

"Oh, this looks like an interesting match." I heard Jun say. I looked over to the court as people started to surround it.

"And it's a doubles match!" Jun exclaimed.

I really didn't know much about tennis, so I just stayed quite and watched. The two on the left side of the court looked shocked.

"Hm, they're not very synchronized and they keep fighting over hits." Jun said a bit disappointed.

Soon the match ended and the two who lost walked over and grabbed their jackets, or more like school uniforms. The taller one had spiky hair and the other wore a cap, but took it off once he changed though.

"Looks like we missed most of the match," Jun pointed out.

"Yeah," I nodded. From far away you could hear the two who lost fighting with each other.

"I wonder if it was there first time playing doubles…" Jun said trailing off.

"Either that or they really suck." I replied.

Suddenly I was whacked upside the head.

"What the hell?" I mumbled as I rubbed my sore spot.

"Oops, I forgot why I whacked you…" Jun spoke.

"So I pretty much got whacked for nothing?" I questioned.

"Yeah, pretty much." She nodded.

"Fun,"

* * *

We stayed at the tennis place for about two hours before heading back home. Once I got home, Jun hopped into her car and drove off. I stepped into the warm house and slipped off my jacket hanging it back up on the coat hanger. I made my way towards the kitchen to grab something to eat since I was hungry. On my way there I could hear the TV from the living room. So I took a quick peek in there.

"Elizabeth? Is that you?" Uncle James asked as he looked over in my direction.

"Yes." I replied.

"Welcome back. Did you have fun?" he asked.

"Yeah I did." I smiled.

"That's great. Well I bet you're tired, so I'd head to bed soon if I were you. You have school tomorrow."

"I know. I'm just going to grab something to eat real quickly and then head off to bed." I replied.

"Alright, good night, I love you."

"I love you too." I then left the living room and headed back towards the kitchen.

Once I grabbed some food from the fridge and happily ate it, I headed upstairs to my room. When I got there, there was a box on my bed, with a piece of paper on top. I grabbed the paper and started to read it.

_Lizzy,_

_Inside this box are your school uniforms and schedule. Isn't that great? You also have all your books you need in there. I bet you'll look so adorable!_

_Love,_

_Aunt Jenny._

I blinked and started to open up the box. There were two school uniforms in there, both were green color and the bow was pink. Not that I didn't mind though. I was kind of guessing the second one was in case something happened to my first one or something like that. I shrugged my shoulders and folded up the second uniform, setting it aside. I then grabbed all my books and sat them in my backpack. I grabbed the schedule and sat it in my backpack as well, not wanting to forget it.

I sat the box next to the door and walked over to my closet, pulling out some pajamas. Once I was changed into my warm pajama's I slid into my bed and softly sighed. I was really tired. A lot happened today and I was hoping maybe my days here in Tokyo would be like this everyday. I want to have all sorts of fun while I'm here, and that is one of my goals for now on.

* * *

Another short chapter…damn it, but oh well.

Thanks to: fanfic addict anonymous XP: for being my first reviewer! Thank you so much!

Please leave a review, I don't care if its just one word.

Bye-bye for now.


	3. Chapter 3: Enter Miki and Keitaro!

'Wham' was the sound you could hear as I fell off my bed. I angrily grumbled and used my arms to help me sit. Once I sat up, I grabbed the alarm clock off my floor and turned it off. I wasn't used to alarm clocks, but Uncle James bought it for me so I could be on time for school.

"Elizabeth? What was that loud noise?" I heard Aunt Jenny asked from the other side of my door.

"I just dropped something, that's all." I replied.

"Okay then. Breakfast is almost ready." She told me.

"Okay!" I heard Aunt Jenny walk away after that. I stood up and sat the blankets back onto the bed.

_"I'll fix my bed later."_ I thought as I hurried over to the closet and grabbed my school uniform. I then headed to the bathroom where I changed and brushed my teeth, along with my hair. I stuck a black hair clip on the right side of my head, so that my hair wouldn't always get into my face. After I was done with all of that I left the bathroom and went back into my room, grabbing my backpack. Once I doubled checked that I had everything I left my room and headed down stairs.

'Click' was the sound I heard along with a bright flash. I blinked and rubbed my eyes before looking in front of me. There stood my Aunt Jenny and Uncle James, both grinning crazy at me.

"You look so cute!" Aunt Jenny squealed as she jumped up and down. I looked over to Uncle James who held up a camera.

"What'd you do that for?" I asked.

"This is your first school uniform so we wanted to take a picture with you in it." Uncle James replied.

"You could have just asked though…" I said.

"Alright, enough of that, let's go eat breakfast." Aunt Jenny quickly said as she grabbed my hand and started to drag me into the kitchen, with Uncle James following behind.

The three of us sat down and happily ate the food that Aunt Jenny cooked up. It was delicious. After I finished eating I heard a knock on the door so I got up and headed for the door. I looked though the small peek hole before opening, revealing Jun.

"Lizzy, are you ready?" she questioned me as I let her step inside.

"Yes, just let me slip on my shoes." I said.

Jun nodded and I headed to the living room where my shoes were. After slipping them on I grabbed my backpack and walked back. Uncle James and Aunt Jenny were both happily talking to Jun.

"Lizzy, I made you a bento." Aunt Jenny said as she handed me this box sort of thing that has a cloth wrapped around it.

"Uh, thank you." I replied smiling.

"Well, we better get going." Jun said. I nodded my head as my aunt and uncle both gave me a hug and a kiss.

"Have a great first day at school." Uncle James smiled.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of her." Jun reassured them.

"Bye." I said as the two of us headed towards her car. After the doors were shut, Jun started the car and we drove off. It was just silence in the car and I didn't mind that at all. As we came closer to the school I started to get slightly nervous. I didn't really know if anyone would like me, but I hoped some did.

"Lizzy, the school gate is down that way. I need to go park the car, so can you go wait for me at the gate?" Jun asked as she pulled up to the sidewalk.

"Yes." I replied as I grabbed my backpack and climbed out of the car. Once I had shut the car door, Jun drove off towards the parking lot. I sighed and started to make my way toward the school gate. All around me were boys and girls who were laughing and smiling as they also headed towards the school gate. Was I really going to be able to make some friends? I mean, I had lots of friends back in America, but Japan seemed so…different.

I was snapped out of my train of thought as my foot suddenly latched onto something, making me trip and fall to the ground.

"Ow." I whined and I rubbed my elbow that had broken most of my fall. I sat up and slowly turned my head to see what had made me trip over. Towering over me was a girl with pink hair that was held up in a high pony tail. At first I thought she was a grade schooler since she was short, but once I saw the Seishun Academy's girls uniform she wore, I took back my thought.

"**You fucking bitch! How dare you fucking trip over me! If i could I would fucking kill you! But no I would get into a shit load of trouble, so I won't**!" the girl shouted. Her light blue eyes furiously glaring at me.

I stared at the girl confused and her face turned red with anger. I did not understand one word she had said. And I already think I made an enemy.

Great.

The pink haired girl made a growling noise as she opened her mouth, shouting at me once again.

"**Burn in hell!**" And then she ran off into the school building. I blinked and stared after her. I was now curious. What the hell was she saying?

I heard laughter erupt from behind me. I swiftly turned my head and saw a boy with hair that was the color of blood. His gold eyes were filled with laughter. Was he laughing at me? Was it because of what just happened right now? Or is it because I might look funny…?

Suddenly the laughing boy slung an arm around my shoulder and wiped a tear from his eye, his laughter finally dying.

"**Looks like you made Philips-san mad!**" The boy laughed.

I stared at the boy with a confused face. The boy looked at me for a moment eyeing me, which was kind of creeping me out.

"**Do you speak Japanese**?"I once again stared at him confused. The boy sighed before grinning.

"So I'm guessing you don't know what Philips-san had said to you then." He said.

"Thank goodness!" I sighed, "Someone who speaks English."

"Ahahaha! You're lucky that I lived in America for a few years." The gold eye boy grinned.

"Yes I am lucky." I nodded.

"So, I'm guessing you're new here, huh?"

"Yes."

"My name is Fujiwaka Keitaro, second year at Seishun Academy. What's yours?"

"Ah…Boyer Elizabeth, third year," We both shook hands with grins upon our faces.

"I heard a bit hesitation in your voice. Why is that?" Keitaro asked.

"Oh, I was thinking on if I was supposed to say my first name first or last." I replied.

"Do you have any teaching you Japanese?" Keitaro questioned.

"My aunt taught me the basics."

"I see. Well I'll teach you some Japanese too! Well, if you want me to."

"That sounds great." I smiled.

"Do you mind if I call you Liz-chan?" Keitaro asked.

"I don't mind."

"Okay! And you can call me Kei-chan." I was suddenly in a tight grip. Wasn't chan used for girls though? Although I guess you can use it for boys too…man Japanese was confusing.

"Uh, so…who was that girl earlier and what did she say?" I asked as I freed myself from Keitaro's grip.

"That was Philips Lucy. She moved here from Canada a couple of years ago. She's a freshman here and the scariest person in the school. Well…next to another couple of people." Keitaro explained, "And well…I'll tell you later what she said."

"I feel bad for tripping over her. I mean she's so tiny that I didn't see her." I said.

"Well, you did disturb her sleep." Keitaro chuckled.

"She's a freshman right? Do you think you can take me to her class later?" I asked Keitaro.

"Sure." He nodded.

"Thanks." I softly smiled.

"Lizzy! Sorry to keep you waiting!" a voice shouted. Keitaro and I turned around to see Jun running towards us.

"Ah! Jun-chan!" Keitaro exclaimed.

"Hello, Kei-chan." Jun warmly smiled at him.

"Had trouble parking the car?" I asked.

"Yes." Jun replied.

"So…you two know each other?" Keitaro suddenly asked.

"Yes, I'm watching her for her aunt and uncle, who are good friends of mine." Jun nodded.

"That's cool!" Keitaro exclaimed.

"Oh, you two better get going before you're late for class." Jun said as the warning bell rang.

"Right! C'mon, Liz-chan. Stick with me and you'll be fine." Keitaro said as he grabbed my hand and rushed off.

"I'll be waiting here for you at the end of school, Lizzy!" Jun shouted. I turned my head and nodded at her. She smiled at me and I slightly smiled back.

Keitaro and I ran passed what seemed like a court. I wanted to stop and see what it was, but Keitaro held a tight grip on my hand, so I couldn't break free.

* * *

After walking down long hallways and up some stairs, we finally arrived in front of a classroom door.

"I believe this is your classroom." Keitaro grinned. I took out my schedule looking it over before looking at the class number. 3-6. He was right.

"Yeah, you're right." I nodded.

"Well, I'll come and wait for you when class ends. I better get going!" Keitaro said as he started to take off.

"That sounds…nice." I smiled. We both waved good-bye to each other as Keitaro disappeared around the corner. I turned my attention back towards the door and took a deep breath before knocking. I waited a moment before a woman with blonde hair opened the door.

"Oh…yes?"

Oh! I knew what that meant! I answered her question and handed her a piece of paper. The lady looked over the note my Uncle and Aunt wrote for her and the one the principle had stuck in the box that my uniforms came in. After she read them both she warmly smiled at me and motioned me to come in. I did and I followed her towards her desk. The classroom was quite loud.

"Boyer-san, it's nice to meet you. I'm Nakaharu Narumi, your teacher." She said speaking English perfectly, "You can call me Mrs. Nakaharu or Sensei, if you wish." I new what Sensei meant, Aunt Jenny told me since I was going to go to a school that spoke a different language.

"Alright," I nodded.

Sensei smiled softly at me before turning towards the class. I scanned my eyes over everyone before stopping at a familiar red-head. Wasn't he the one Aunt Jenny pointed to at the mall? Or does he just look like that one guy.

"**Everyone! We have a new student. Her name is Boyer Elizabeth; she just transferred here from America. She doesn't know much Japanese, so I want someone with very good English to help her around. Miss. Amu, I want you to help her.**" Sensei spoke.

"**Yes, teacher**," Replied a girl with jet black hair that fell to her shoulders. Her black eyes shined under the coke bottle shaped glasses she wore, she was quite pretty.

"Boyer-san, Amu-san can speak English perfectly, so I hope there won't be any trouble." Sensei said.

"No, there won't be." I smiled.

"Alright, since Amu-san will be helping you out…how about you sit right next to her?" Sensei questioned as she pointed to the empty desk besides the girl.

"Okay." I nodded and said my thanks to Sensei before heading towards the desk. I sat down and swung my backpack on the chair before scooting in and looking ahead.

"**Everyone please open your History book to page twenty sevev**," Sensei said.

"Open your History book to page twenty seven." I heard Amu speak from next to me.

"Oh, right." I nodded as I grabbed my history book and flipped through the pages.

"I'm Amu Miki." I blinked and looked at 'Miki'.

"Uh, I'm-"

"I know, Boyer Elizabeth. I was listening." Miki said.

"…Right…"

* * *

After the whole lesson and Miki telling me what the teacher was saying, class finally ended and I was heading out of the classroom with Miki at my side. She said since it was lunch break that she would show me around real quick. When we got outside the classroom, I felt something grasp onto my hand and pull me backwards.

Miki looked back towards me before giving a deadly glare to whomever or whatever had pulled me back.

"Liz-chan! Let's go eat together!" I heard Keitaro happily say.

"I'm sorry, but she is coming with me." Miki said as she grasped my free hand.

"Nuh-ah! We already made plans to eat together!" Keitaro argued.

"We did?" I questioned, but was ignored. I knew he was going to wait for me out here, but I don't remember saying we were going to eat together.

"Yes, but I'm showing her around!" Miki argued back.

Suddenly the two of them were pulling me back and forth and I felt like my arms were about to be ripped off. What the hell? What is wrong with the two of them? I don't like this!

"Ah! Keitaro, how about you follow us while Miki is showing me around and then we can eat together when we're done." I suggested. The both of them dropped my arms and I fell down with a sigh. Although my butt was in pain right now, my arms were free.

"That's a great idea!" Keitaro beamed, "You're so smart, Liz-chan!"

"No problem." I said.

"I guess it's alright." Miki mumbled as she helped me stand up. I think I saw a new side of this girl earlier. She seemed do quiet earlier and always had a poker face on.

"So, let's get going." I said as I grabbed both of there hands.

* * *

"Ooooh! And right here if my favorite Sakura tree!" Keitaro pointed out as he sat down and pulled out his lunch.

"Is this all?" I asked.

"Well, we haven't shown you the tennis court yet." Keitaro replied.

"Oh, I heard that this school is famous for its tennis players." I said.

"That's right. I don't know much about them though…" Keitaro nodded.

"Humph." I slightly turned my head and looked at Miki. She looked upset.

"Hey, Amu-san…what's wrong?" I asked. I'm really going to have to get used to those honorifics

"Nothing." She replied in a mumble.

I wasn't too sure that she was telling me the truth, but since I just met her today, it wouldn't be wise enough to get involved. Although we the three of us seemed like friends already.

"Boyer-san…" I heard Miki suddenly say.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I'm…sorry." She mumbled.

"Huh?"

"I…shouldn't have acted like that earlier. I don't have many friends, so when I met new people I think we're going to become friends and I start to get scared that another person is going to take them away. I'm considered a genius and have been all my life. I can actually go to college, but I decided to have a normal school life." Miki explained.

"I see. Well, do you want to be friends?" I asked.

"R-really?"

"Yeah, I'd love to be friends with you." I smiled. I saw a tint of pink appear upon Miki's cheeks as also gave me a soft smile.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Oi! I wanna be friends with you two too!" Keitaro exclaimed. Miki and I chuckled as we looked at the fuming Keitaro.

"Alright, we'll all be friends then." I said.

"Hooray!" Keitaro cheered. Before anyone could say anything else, a voice interrupted.

"Oi! Girl who tripped over me! C'mere!"

"…What…?"

* * *

**LP8:** I would like to thank: fanfic addict anonymous XP and AnimeFreak81296 for reviewing! I thank you both so very much!

Please leave a review and tell me what you think of this chapter. I had a hard time with it, so there are probably some things that are wrong.

Cya in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4: Enter Philips Lucy!

"Oi! Girl who tripped over me! C'mere!"

"…What…?" I blinked.

"Is that, Philips-san?" Keitaro questioned, squinting his eyes to get a better view.

"Yes, and it looks like she wants, Boyer-san, to go to her." Miki said, pushing up her glasses.

"Liz-chan, I don't think that's a good idea! She might eat you!" Keitaro exclaimed.

"She looks…friendly…" I said as I looked over the girl named Lucy. She, of course, wore the girl's school uniform, like everyone else. Her pink hair was help up in a high pony tail. Her light blue eyes seemed to have a small spark in them making me wonder. She also wore two necklaces and lots of bracelets on both of her hands.

"Hey! Are you coming over here or not?" She questioned, looking quite impatient.

"She's…speaking English?" I questioned.

"Philips-san grew up in Vancouver, Canada and moved here a couple years ago." Keitaro explained.

"Oh."

"Looks like her patients is wearing thin." Miki spoke, pointing at Lucy, "We'll go with you to see what she wants."

"Thank you." I sighed in relief. I was actually kind of afraid to go by myself.

Keitaro went pale.

"D-do we really have to? I mean…why don't we just run for it?" Keitaro suggested motioning behind us.

"Aw, is the little baby scared?" Miki taunted.

"Shut up, **Genius**! I'm not scared of that shorty!" Keitaro exclaimed.

"**Liar**," Miki muttered under her breath.

"**What**?"

"In English, please." I said interrupting the two.

"Sorry." They both apologized. I sighed and shrugged it off.

"Don't ignore me, damn it!" Lucy shouted as she started to run towards us.

"Ah! She is going to eat us!" Keitaro screamed.

"Why would I eat you? You would probably taste bad." Lucy said.

"Ah! She is here! Hide!" Miki and I sighed as we watched Keitaro frantically look around for a hiding spot, soon hiding behind a garbage can.

Miki shook her head, "What an idiot."

"Yeah…but he's our idiot now." I retorted.

"Oi! Pay attention to me!" Lucy whined, pointing her finger at me.

"Oh, sorry." I apologized.

"That's okay." Lucy smiled.

I blinked, _"I think there's something wrong with this girl…"_ I thought.

"She's just bipolar." Miki said from behind me.

"Please don't read me like a book." I said.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

Miki rolled her eyes and looked at Lucy who puffed out her cheeks in frustration. The two of them seemed to be having a staring contest since they both were looking intently at each other, not blinking. Keitaro poked his head out and looked at the two girls. Miki towered over Lucy a good seven inches. I'm guessing that Lucy is five foot. And Miki, five foot seven. Miki was pretty tall for a Japanese woman. But, I think that Keitaro had beaten us all. He seemed to be about five foot nine. I was only five foot six, but still taller than Lucy.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" Lucy screamed as she clutched her head in her hands.

Miki chuckled, "Took a while, but I new I would get that reaction out of you soon enough."

"Ah!" I exclaimed. The three of them looked at me with confused faces as I turned to look at Lucy. "You've been speaking English. How did you know I spoke English? I mean…wouldn't you have spoken in Japanese, thinking I could speak Japanese?" I questioned.

"Oh? Well, in my class there was a rumor going around that a new student is coming to our school and that she was from America. But, I thought it was just a rumor at first, but after I ran off from you this morning when I was done cussing you out in Japanese, I realized that the rumor's were true and that you didn't speak, Japanese." Lucy explained.

"Smart thinking," I gave her a thumbs-up. "And you were cussing me out?"

"Yeah, sorry about that, but you did disturb my sleep and I can be very cranky when someone disturbs my sleep," Lucy said.

"That's okay, I understand." I smiled.

"Hey, I just realized…you're pretty ugly for an American." Lucy simply said.

My eye twitched in slight anger. "Is that supposed to be like some Japanese compliment?" I questioned.

"Nah, it was the truth." Lucy shrugged.

"What are you talking about? Liz-chan is cute!" Keitaro squealed as he jumped out of his hiding place and hugged me from my back.

"Ack! It's the Bi boy!" Lucy exclaimed.

I blinked my hazel eyes three times before finally opening my mouth, "Bi…boy?"

"Oh? Didn't you tell her, Fujiwaka-san?" Miki asked.

"Oops, it must have slipped my mind." Keitaro said letting go of me and rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm Bi." Keitaro said proudly.

"Really? That's cool." I grinned.

"I know isn't it?" Keitaro grinned back.

"Well at least she doesn't mind that he is Bi." Miki slightly smiled.

"Yeah," Lucy nodded.

"Which reminds me…why did you freak when you saw him?" Miki questioned looking down at Lucy.

"I dunno know. I guess I was just bored and felt like giving myself a little scare by making myself freak out." Lucy shrugged.

"You are a weird one." Miki mumbled.

"Wrong. I am a strange one." Lucy retorted.

"Oh! I never introduced myself yet." I spoke as I turned towards Lucy, once again, "I'm…Boyer Elizabeth, you can call me whatever you want though."

"I'm Philips Lucy! Call me, Lu-chan and I'll call you, Liz-chan." Lucy grinned.

"Oi! That's the nickname I gave her!" Keitaro exclaimed.

Lucy stuck her tongue out at Keitaro and smirked, "Too bad."

"Meanie!" Keitaro whined.

"They're acting like children." I mumbled.

"It's in their nature." Miki replied. "And I'm already guessing what Lucy is about to say next. Well, not guessing exactly."

"Huh?"

"Alright! Since I like all three of you, I am now the new member to your club!" Lucy announced.

"We don't have a club." I said.

Lucy blinked, "Oh, well, then I am now the new member to your little friendship thingy!"

"God why?" Keitaro sniffed.

"So, this is what you saw coming?" I asked Miki.

"Yup," Miki nodded.

"Alright, I don't mind." I gently smiled at Lucy.

"Hooray!" Lucy cheered.

"Liz-chan! How could you!" Keitaro shouted.

I giggled and looked at the three. Keitaro was practically crying, Lucy was jumping up and down shouting how she finally made some friends at this school, and Miki was writing things down in this little notebook, making a few glances at the two. And me? I was very happy. I was able to make three friends on my first day. I really couldn't be any happier and school life here I bet was just going to get more interesting.

That's when a rumbling noise came from my stomach. I blushed in embarrassment as the three looked at me.

"I, uh, never ate, so…" I stumbled for words.

"You have five minutes to eat before we have to get back to class." Miki pointed out.

"Thank you!" I grabbed my bag and opened it up. Grabbing my lunch box that, Aunt Jenny made for me; I started to eat, not caring how fast I ate. I was starving.

"Boyer-san, if you eat too fast you might get indigestion." Miki warned me.

"Don't worry." I assured her. "And you can all me Liz-chan, too if you want."

Miki rolled her eyes, but this time she didn't reply.

"We should eat too!" Lucy exclaimed as she sat next to me and started to eat her own food. Keitaro, who sat far away from Lucy and next to Miki, nodded in agreement. Soon, the four of us we're enjoying our last five minutes of lunch time with laughter.

* * *

"Ow." I whined as I held my stomach. Not too much longer after I ate, my stomach started to hurt really badly.

"Moron, I told you about eating too fast, but did you listen? No." Miki whispered.

"So-sorry," I apologized. I guess I should have listened.

Miki sighed and raised her hand, "Sensei-san, Boyer's-san stomach is hurting. May I take her to the school nurse?" she asked.

Sensei looked over at me concerned and nodded, giving Miki the permission to take me to the nurse. I didn't argue since this it would probably be best for me if I took some medicine or something. Miki and I stood up and walked out of the room. I was still holding my stomach, hoping to somehow calm it down. It didn't work.

Miki and I didn't talk as we both walked down the halls of our school. Great, first day here and I got an upset stomach, wonderful.

Miki looked over at me before turning her head away. Was she mad at me because I didn't listen? Or is this how she usually acts? I snapped out of my thoughts as Miki knocked two times on a door. In big black letters it said 'School Nurse'. The door opened revealing Jun, who looked at Miki confused, yet concerned.

"Hai?" she asked.

"Boyer-san ate too fast at lunch and now has an upset stomach." Miki simply explained.

When Jun heard my name, or last, her face became fully concerned as she glanced at me. I weakly smiled at her and walked up to her. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the office, Miki followed slowly behind. Jun, told me to wait and sit on the bed thing that was in here, I did and waited. Miki grabbed a chair and sat next to the bed and shook her head.

"You're first day and you get a stomach ache? Baka." She said.

"That's what I was thinking earlier…" I muttered, "Ow…!"

"Lizzy, take some of this." Jun said as she came back with a bottle of something in her hand and spoon. She poured the stuff on the spoon and gave it to me. This stuff looked oddly familiar.

Oh gosh! I think I'm going to puke! It's Pepto-Bismol. I hated this stuff!

"Lizzy, you looked a little green. Are you sure it's just your stomach?" Jun questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said.

I really did want to puke now. I hated the taste of that stuff with a passion.

"She doesn't like the taste of, Pepto-Bismol, Jun." Miki spoke.

"Thanks…Miki." I sighed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lizzy. But that stuff will help you out a lot." Jun said.

I chuckled, "That's okay. I'm starting to feel a little bit better."

"That's good." Jun smiled.

"Boyer-san, would you like me to wait for you or shall I head back to class?" Miki asked as she stood up.

"You can head back to class. I should be back in a little while." I replied.

"Alright, I'll see you in class." Miki said as she headed out the door.

Jun and I watched as Miki closed the door behind herself. It was quiet for a moment. Jun silently left and went to go put back the Pepto-Bismol. I looked around the room, before looking outside the window that was above the bed I sat on. Jun came back and sat down on the chair that Miki had once sat on.

"Was she a friend of yours?" she asked me.

"Yeah, her name is Amu Miki. She was assigned to help me around school, since she had the best English in class." I replied.

"She seems like a very nice girl." Jun smiled.

"She is." I nodded.

"Have you made any other friends?" Jun questioned.

"Yeah, two others. Keitaro, who you already know, and Philips Lucy, she is a first year here I believe." I said.

"Well, I'm glad you made some good friends on your first day."

"Yeah, it was kind of surprising and unexpected. Since a couple of them just suddenly announced they were my new friends."

Jun tilted her head confused. "Is there something wrong with that?" she asked.

"No, no, no. I'm really happy." I quickly said.

"That's good."

I softly smiled at Jun who smiled back.

* * *

**Bloodpuppy:**Lucy is going to eat Keitaro!

**LP8:**Oh, this is my friend, Bloodpuppy, who is now the Co-Author of this story.

**Bloodpuppy:**Hello!

**LP8:**Anyway, sorry about this chapter everyone. I had writers block, but I already have some ideas now, so I should be updating a lot more.

Oh and yes. I would like to thank a couple of reviewers: TsukinoShiniitaru and XxMichyBabyxX.

You both are awesome. Thank you!

Please leave a review? It's not that hard. It can just be one word, we don't mind.

**Both:**Buh-bye!


	5. Chapter 5: Meeting Two Regulars

"Are you sure you're well enough to go back to class?"

"Yes, I'm feeling much better now. Thanks, Jun." I softly smiled as I grabbed my book bag and slung it over my shoulder.

For the past hour, Jun and I had been talking about all the stuff that was going on earlier, and when we ran out of stuff to talk about, I decided to go back to calls. Plus, I was feeling a lot better than earlier, and I didn't want to miss out on learning.

Just kidding!

"Alright, if your stomach starts to hurt again, ask Amu-san to bring you back here." Jun told me. I nodded and slipped on my shoes that I had taken off earlier.

"I will." I said reaching for the door knob. I glanced back at Jun who smiled at me. I smiled back and left her office.

"Okay…which way was the classroom again?" I questioned myself as I looked down each hallway debating which one to go down. I really wasn't paying much attention to which way Miki and I came from, since other things were on my mind, but I'm pretty sure we came down from the left.

I shrugged and followed my senses, hoping to find my classroom soon.

* * *

"I am completely, utterly…lost." I muttered as I slid down onto the floor, leaning against the hallways wall.

It had been only ten minutes and I was lost. Was it really this hard to figure out where my classroom was? Well, it was my first day, so I can kind of understand the situation I had put myself into.

"**Are you lost?**" I gasped and looked up. A boy stood in front of me with a slightly nervous smile.

"**Did I scare you?**"

"What?" I asked.

The boy looked confused as I didn't answer back any of his questions. I mean, how could I answer them if I didn't know Japanese? Were they even questions?

"**What's your name**?"

I blinked. The boy sighed.

"**Do you speak Japanese**?"

"…"

The boy looked down both halls before he looked back at me. He just stared at me for a moment and I stared back. He wore the boy's school uniform, so I guessed he was a student here.

"**Oh! I know!**" he smiled as he pulled out a little notebook and pen from his bag. He gave me the book, saying some other things that I didn't understand. I decided to write down that I am lost and could not speak Japanese. I also wrote down my name and class room number. The boy's brown eyes looked over what I had read with a very confused look.

"**Are you from America**?" he questioned.

"Eh…?"

"**Taka-san, who's this?**"

"**F-Fuji-san!**" 'Taka' exclaimed.

"Don't they have classes that teach people English?" I mumbled.

"**U-Uhm…I don't know**," Taka replied to Fuji's first question.

"I regret coming to Japan." I sighed.

This, Fuji, guy smiled and bent down next to me. Taka seemed confused as he looked back and forth at Fuji and me. He also wore the boy's uniform.

"You're the new student from America, aren't you?" Fuji questioned in English.

"Yes! Thank you for speaking English!" I almost cried because I was so happy.

Fuji chuckled and stood up, offering me his hand. I took it and straightened myself. I was so happy!

"Are you lost?" Fuji asked me.

I nodded my head quickly.

"I'm, Fuji Syusuke. And this is Kawamura Takashi, but everyone calls him Taka." Fuji said.

"I'm Boyer Elizabeth and this is my first day at school." I said.

Fuji's smiled never disappeared. "Who's class are you in?"

"Uh…Nakaharu's-sensei…" I said.

"Saa, her class just ended. Who's class do you have now?" Fuji asked me.

My eyes widened. Her class ended already? Does that mean…Miki is looking for me? Oh god! She'll kill me if she finds out I haven't been in the nurse's office for a while now!

"**Taka-san, you can go back to class. I will help Boyer-san.**" Fuji told Taka. I was utterly confused since I could not understand one word he had said, but then shrugged it off.

Taka nodded. "**Y-Yes**," he took one more glance at me before he hurried down the hall. Fuji smiled and turned back to me.

"Shall I take you to your class?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes please!"

* * *

"Liz-chan!" a familiar voice shouted. I blinked and turned towards the classroom door before I was viciously attacked.

Okay more liked tackled in a hug.

"Ah!" I exclaimed as I stumbled backwards. Two pairs of arms caught me before I could fall back any further. Fuji smiled from behind me while the person who hugged me clutched onto my arm and pulled me away.

"Liz-chan! Are you going to class?" Lucy asked as she grinned up at me.

"Uh, yeah. Fuji-san was showing me the way." I replied.

Lucy looked over to Fuji who only smiled at her, Lucy glared. "Who looks too happy." She muttered.

_"I kind of thought that earlier too."_ I thought.

"Saa, is this one of your friends, Boyer-san?" Fuji asked me.

"He can speak English! Dammit, now I can't cuss him out." Lucy muttered as she paced back and forth in front of us trying to think of another language.

I sighed and turned towards Fuji nodding my head. "Yes, although we just met a couple hours ago, she is one of my friends." I said.

"Liz-chan! I'll take you to class!" Lucy smiled as she latched onto my arm.

I blinked. "Eh…?"

"Looks like your friend will be taking you then. See you around, Boyer-san." Fuji said as he walked down the opposite hall we were once walking down.

"Yippy! Let's go!" Lucy exclaimed as she marched off down the hall dragging him along with her.

* * *

"Eto…" Lucy mumbled as she tapped her chin with her index finger. She looked around the hallway as she tried to find my classroom.

"L-Lucy, would you like to see my schedule?" I asked holding out the schedule for her to see. Lucy blinked and quickly snatched the schedule away from my hands.

I would have told her I could of handle it from here, but knowing me I probably would have gotten lost along the way. And I did not want to get lost again.

"Philips-san? Boyer-san? What are you two doing out in the hall?" A questioning and familiar voice asked.

"Mi-chan! It's so good to see you again!" Lucy exclaimed.

Miki sighed. "I never told you to call me 'Mi-chan', Philips-san." She said as she pushed up her glasses.

"I'll call you what I want. And stop calling me 'Philips-san'! Just call me Lu-chan! You too, Liz-chan," Lucy said as she pointed to me.

I softly chuckled. "Uh, alright then, Lu-chan,"

"Anyway, now onto business," Miki spoke.

I blinked. "Eh?"

Miki glanced over at me. Her jet black hair swayed around and her black eyes looked as sharp as ever. "I went to go look for you at the nurse's office, but Jun-san said that you had already left twenty minutes ago. Where were you? You missed the rest of Nakaharu-sensei's class." She said.

"I…I know, but I got lost and then this guy called Taka came and started talking to me in Japanese and then his friend Fuji came and spoke English and said he would help me find my way to class, but then we ran into Luc- Lu-chan, who said she would take me to class and then he left and now we're trying to find my next class." I fully explained. Lucy looked utterly lost in what I had just said and Miki nodded her head understanding the situation.

"Taka and Fuji…huh?" she mumbled.

"Do you know them, Miki?" I asked.

"Yes, I believe those two are Regular's on the tennis team." Miki replied.

Lucy and I cocked our heads to the side with puzzled looks. "Regular's?"

Miki glanced over at Lucy. "You should know who the Regular's are. You share classes with one of them and you have seen them many times."

"Oi! Just because I have seen them play tennis many times does not mean I actually know who or what they are. And I share a class with one of them? Really?" Lucy exclaimed with shock.

Miki and I sighed.

Miki shook her head before she continued. "Anyway, this is private school famous for its strong tennis club and talented players. Some, who are good enough, are chosen to become Regular's and take place in matches."

"Ooh." Lucy and I coursed.

"Philips-san, you share a couple of classes with Echizen Ryoma, who is a new Regular. Boyer-san and I share a couple of classes with, Fuji Syusuke, Kawamura Takashi and Kikumaru Eiji." Miki said.

"Hm, so I have a class with those two and never even knew it. And who is Kikumaru Eiji?" I asked.

"I'm not going to go and explain who everyone is, that is too tiring. Maybe I'll do it later." Miki said with an agitated look.

"Oh okay."

Miki sighed and looked at her wrist that held a watch on it. "Boyer-san, you and I should be heading off to class now. Philips-san, you're late so you should get going."

Lucy huffed and crossed her arms. "I was going to ditch anyways, but I guess I'll get an ear full from Mr. Kazumi again if I don't go." Lucy said.

I smiled at her. "See you later, Lu-chan."

"Bye-bye!" Lucy said as she waved to us and ran down the other hall.

"Shall we get going?" Miki asked motioning me to follow her.

I nodded my head as the two of us left down a different hall.

* * *

"Kyaa! You must be the new student! I'm Koto Jin, your sensei." A young looking man said as he shook my hand.

"Uh, I'm Boyer Elizabeth; it's nice to meet you, Koto-sensei." I said.

"Boyer-san, Koto-sensei teaches Science and English, which is why he is very fluent." Miki explained.

"Oh, I-I see."

"But you won't be taking my English class since you speak is fluently." Koto-sensei said.

"Y-yeah," I nodded.

"Kyaa! You're so cute!" Koto-sensei exclaimed as he hugged me.

I blinked puzzled. Miki softly chuckled.

"Koto-sensei has a lot of…enthusiasm and loves his students dearly. Many people say that his is there favorite teacher in the whole school. He tries to make class fun for everyone." Miki said.

"Miki-chan! How many times have I told you to just call me Jin-kun? Koto-sensei makes me sound like my father when he used to teach here. Oh! And you call me Jin-kun too, okay, Elizabeth-chan?" He said.

"A-alright," I mumbled.

Soon enough, Koto-sensei or Jin-kun released me and led Miki and I in. Supposedly the two of us were only a couple minutes late, but Jin-kun didn't mind. Miki went to go take a seat while Jin-kun kept me up front with him. He said he had wanted to introduce me to the class.

"**Everyone! We have a new student. Her name is Boyer Elizabeth; she just transferred here from America. She doesn't know much Japanese, so I want to show her your best English!**" Jin-kun spoke.

"**Yes**!" Everyone replied.

Jin-kun smiled at everyone before turning to me. "Since you seem to know, Miki-chan, why don't you go sit next to her?" he suggested as he pointed to Miki.

I nodded my head. "Thank you." Jin-kun just continued to smile.

I walked down the aisle and over to Miki who was reading a book. I sat down next to her and gave her a soft smile. Miki smiled back.

Soon the Science lesson went on.

* * *

**LP8: **We would like to thank a couple of reviewers: TsukinoShiniitaru and AnimeFreak81296.

You two are awesome! Thank you so very much!

Please leave a review on your way out. It's not that hard, all you have to do is press on little button, right one little word, and then press another little button and then your done!

**Both:**Buh-bye!


	6. Chapter 6: I'm 'Kawaii?

"**Okay, now I want you all to add a few drops of fragrance oils and a few drops of colorant.**" Jin-kun spoke as he looked over his class.

"He wants us to add in a few drops of fragrance oils and a few drops of colorant." Miki said as she grabbed a small tube thing.

"Oh, okay." I nodded as I watched her put droplets into the bowel. "Um, Miki…?"

"Yes?"

"What are we making again?" I asked.

Miki sighed. "We're making bath salts."

I lightly chuckled and rubbed my neck. "Oh, right."

For the rest of class, Miki continued to translate what Jin-kun said as we both worked on making bath salts for the rest of the period.

* * *

_**(After class)**_

"**Until tomorrow, everyone**!" Jin-kun smiled waving at all of us as we left the classroom.

"We have a bit of a break before we have to go to Math class. Oh and just to let you know, Imani-sensei does not speak English and she doesn't really like kids." Miki said as she slung her book bag over her shoulder and walked out of the classroom.

I blinked. "Then why is she a teacher?" I asked.

"To teach us discipline," Miki replied.

"Oh boy," I sighed.

"Don't worry; I doubt she'll pick on you as much as she does to Shiro-san." Miki chuckled.

"Who is, um…Shiro-san?" I questioned.

"Well, there are two of them, actually. They both are twins. Shiro Naoki is a minute older and Shiro Naomi is his twin sister. They both like to cause a lot of trouble, but some say they are good hearted. I think they are rather annoying." Miki said as she pushed her glasses up.

"Twins? Wow, this'll be my first time seeing a pair of twins." I said smiling lightly at Miki.

Miki smirked. "Well, there's a first for everything. Anyway, I doubt you'll be able to talk to them; they like to keep to themselves. The only person they really talk to is the class president, Minamino Akito."

"Well maybe I will be able to get them to talk to me." I said feeling rather hopeful.

"Hm, I guess we'll just have to wait and see then. Now, come on, we need to go to our lockers." Miki said as she started to lead me down a hall.

"Wait…we have lockers?"

* * *

_**(In math class)**_

After Miki and I grabbed our math books, of course I had to go the office to get mine, we headed to our math class with Miki leading the way since I would probably get lost once again if I led the way.

"And this…is hell. Oh, I mean the math class." Miki joked as we entered the room.

I faked a gasp. "Miki! I didn't know you had a sense of humor!"

Miki glared at me. "I know, isn't it surprising? Well, I'm never going to do it again anyways. That was a onetime thing."

I nervously chuckled. "I'm not going to argue with that. Especially when you are still giving me that scary glare…"

Miki sighed and turned away before she walked over to this old looking lady, who I had guessed as the teacher. They both spoke to each other before Imani-sensei glanced over at me. I smiled cheekily at her and she rolled her eyes before turning back to Miki. A moment later Miki walked back over to me and led me over to an empty seat in the back, she took a seat in the back along with me.

I looked around and there were only a few students in here. In fact, those few students kept glancing at me and whispering to each other. Am I really that interesting? Do I look weird?

"Don't worry. It's been a while since we had a new student come from America." Miki assured me.

"O-okay," I nodded as I let my shyness get to me.

After a couple more minutes a few more students came. My eye was caught on the same brown haired boy who had helped me earlier. If I was correct, his name was Fuji.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention to you that you and I have math class with Fuji-san." Miki spoke as she caught me looking over at Fuji.

"I kind of noticed." I mumbled back.

Fuji sat down on one of the middle row chairs with a smile on his face. I sighed and turned towards the window and stared out of it, waiting for class to start.

"**I told you I don't have it!**!" a loud voice boomed through the classroom.

"**And I am telling you, Naoki, that you do too have it!**" another voice shouted.

"**Why in the world would I have your stupid lip gloss?**"

Interested in what was going on, I turned my head and glanced at a boy and a girl who looked alike very much. The boy's hair was black, along with the girls. They both also had chocolate brown colored eyes.

"Could those two be…?" I started.

"The Shiro twins? Yes, yes they are." Miki replied.

"**I know you have my lip gloss! Moron!**" Naomi retorted.

"**Let me ask this again…why in the world would I have you stupid lip gloss?**" Naoki angrily questioned, or at least I guessed, his twin sister.

"Oh and they only speak Japanese so I really don't see how you are going to talk to them." Miki mumbled.

"I kind of figured after a while…" I mumbled back.

"**I don't know! You are the one who stole it!**" Naomi argued back.

"**Um, excuse me, you two? Please stop fighting.**"A small voice spoke up. The two twins sighed and turned to a girl with blonde hair that was held in a French braid.

"**Sorry, Akito-chan**," Both of the twins coursed.

Akito smiled. "**It's alright. And, Naomi? You dropped your lip gloss in the hall.**" Akito said as she handed Naomi something that I couldn't quite see.

"**Thank you, Akito-chan**," Naomi grinned.

"**See! Told you I didn't have your stupid lip gloss!**" Naoki exclaimed.

"**Whatever, I don't care anymore.**" Naomi muttered as she crossed her arms and turned away.

"**Please, let's just sit down now.**" Akito shyly said.

"**Right, I would like you all to sit down now.**" Imani-sensei said with a cold strict stare.

The trio quickly nodded their heads and sat down in the front row. Imani-sensei glanced around her whole class before the door slammed opened, reveling a red-head. The boy breathed heavily as he looked around the classroom.

"**Nya! I am late again?**" The red-head shirked.

"**Yes, Eiji, now go take your seat this instant!**" Imani-sensei said as she pointed to the empty seat in the middle row.

"**Yes!**" The red-head replied as he jogged over to his seat which was next to Fuji.

I blinked a moment later. "He looks familiar…" I mumbled tapping my chin with my index finger as I tried to think back on where I had seen him before.

"Kikumaru-san? You met him before?" Miki questioned me.

I shook my head. "No, at least I don't think so, but he does look a little familiar." I replied.

"It could be that you just think you have seen him before, Boyer-san." Miki shrugged.

I chuckled. "Possibly,"

Imani-sensei once again glanced at her class with a slightly cold stare. "**Everyone, we have a new student. Her name is Boyer Elizabeth; she just transferred here from America. She doesn't know much Japanese, but I don't really care now. Don't bother introducing yourself; I don't want to hear it.**" Imani-sensei spoke before turning towards me, "** Don't bother introducing yourself; I don't want to hear it.**"

I blinked and just shook my head yes. Imani-sensei looked somewhat satisfied with my response. After that, Imani-sensei started the math lesson. Miki wrote down notes for me since I couldn't understand what Imani-sensei was saying, soon I was able to figure out the math problems sensei gave us. They were quite easy for me and Miki.

Soon class ended and I gathered my things along with Miki. No one took glances over at me anymore as I headed out of the classroom. I didn't hear Miki's warning as I bumped into someone's back and fell to the floor.

"Ow…" I winced in pain.

"**I'm sorry, nya!**" A hyper voice apologized as a hand extended out towards me. Whoa…I knew what the person was actually saying. 1 point for me!

"It's alright." I chuckled as I took the person's hand and stood up.

"Eh…?"

"**She said: it's alright.**" Miki said.

I blinked and looked over the person I had bumped into only to see the red-head who was late for class.

The red-head's face beamed with joy for a moment as he looked at me.

"**Nya!**** You are the new student from America, right?**" The red-head said.

I blinked and looked at the red-head confused. Fuji chuckled as he told the red-head something. I saw realization and a bit of sadness flicker in the red-heads eyes. I jumped back a little when he bowed down slightly saying something I still couldn't quite understand.

"Um…what's wrong with him…?" I asked Miki as I pointed at the red-head who was now talking to Fuji, well, Fuji was doing most of the talking.

"He was saying sorry, he forgot that you didn't know Japanese." Miki replied.

"Oh…well can you tell the guy its okay, for me?" I asked her. Miki nodded and walked over to the red-head and Fuji. She glanced at the red-head and spoke to him for a moment before walking back over to me.

"There, I told him." She bluntly said.

"Thank you," I smiled at her.

"**Cute**!" The red-head shrieked as he jumped and hugged me. I gasped and stumbled back a little but soon got my balance back. "**Nya!** **Fujiko don't you think she's cute**?"

"Wh-what…?" I blinked in shock.

"**Yes, but Eiji, you are scaring her.**" Fuji spoke.

"Huh?" I blinked again.

"**Sorry**!" the red-head quickly exclaimed as he jumped off me.

"No…problem…?" I mumbled as I somewhat understood what he had said.

"**Kikumaru-san, this is Boyer Elizabeth**," Miki said before she turned towards me, "Boyer-san, this is Kikumaru Eiji, one of the Regular's on the tennis team."

"Ah, nice too meet you." I smiled at him.

Fuji translated what I had said and Eiji said something back shaking my hand really fast. He was very energetic, wasn't he?

Suddenly I felt a shiver go down my spine, like someone was watching. Well, more than one person. I glanced behind myself and made a small sound as I saw about five girls glaring at me and Miki.

"Just ignore them, Boyer-san." Miki whispered to me. I nodded my head slowly and turned back towards the two boys.

Fuji chuckled and Miki sighed as she spoke. "Well, if you want to get to class on time, I'd say we should leave…this instant." I was guessing she was trying to hurry up and get out of here.

Soon the four of us…I guess, were heading to our classes.

* * *

It turned out that I share two classes with Eiji. Math and Language Arts. During the rest of the day Eiji had shown me around a little, of course Miki or Fuji was with us since they had to translate what the two of us had said to each other.

Also, I pretty much got glared at by a group of girl's everytime I was with Eiji. I was somewhat relived when the two of us had parted. Both him and Fuji asked me if I wanted to go to the tennis courts with them, well it was mostly Eiji, but since I told Jun I would meet her at the front gate, I said no.

As Miki and I walked out of the school building two screams could be heard. And both of them sounded very familiar.

"I'm going to eat you!" A high pitched voice shouted.

"Liz-chan! I told you she was gonna eat me!" Keitaro shouted as he ran around in a circle with Lucy chasing after him.

Miki and I blinked and shook our heads sighing. "Idiots…" we coursed.

"Liz-chan, help me!" Keitaro shrieked as he ran towards me and jumped into my arms.

"Whoa!" I gasped as I tried to hold on to my friend, who was quite heavy for a skinny man.

"Yay! I win!" Lucy cheered before she fell to the ground in laughter. "Di-did you really think I was going to eat you?" she asked Keitaro who turned and glared at Lucy.

"I hate you." He hissed.

"I hate you too!" Lucy grinned.

"Um, you guys, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Kei-chan pissed me off so I decided that I was going to scare him." Lucy explained.

"I never gave you the permission to call me 'Kei-chan!'" Keitaro angrily exclaimed.

"I'll call you whatever the hell I want to call you!" Lucy argued.

"Liz-chan! How could you have a friend like her!" Keitaro cried.

Miki heavily sighed as she pulled Keitaro off of me. I thanked her, but Keitaro then latched onto Miki saying that if he was put on the ground Lucy would eat him.

"Keitaro, Lucy, Miki, I'll see you all tomorrow, bye!" I said as I quickly ran off towards the gate.

"I told you to call me Lu-chan, dammit!" I heard Lucy screech after me.

I chuckled.

Anyway, like I thought, Jun was at the gate waiting for me. She smiled and I smiled back, soon she led me to her car and we headed back to my house. The car ride was nice, the two of us talked about what I did today, which she found very amusing.

The rest of the car ride was silent so I just stared out the window and remembered all the stuff that had happened on my first day of school. If my first day was this exciting, does that mean the rest of the school year will be exciting as well?

Well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to come in?" I asked Jun who still sat in the car as I stood outside of the car and looked at her.

"No, I'm fine. I need to get home and take care of some things around the house anyways, I'll pick you up again tomorrow at the same time, okay?" Jun said.

"Alright," I nodded.

"Bye," Jun smiled.

I nodded again and waved as she left around the corner, once she was gone from my sight I headed up the stairs of my house and opened the door with my key. I stepped inside and closed the door, slipping my shoes off on my way towards the living room. Before I could go in any further, I was hugged tightly and pushed to the ground.

"Lizzy, you won't be doing anything until you tell me everything about your first day at school." Aunt Jenny suddenly spoke.

"Wh-what…?"

"Come with me to the kitchen!" she said as she stood up and helped or dragged me up along with her and soon dragged me into the kitchen and sat me on a chair.

Aunt Jenny sat in the chair across the table and smiled at me as she said. "Now, I wanna know all about your first day!"

_"Oh boy," _I sighed.

* * *

**Bloodpuppy:** _(Pokes her with a stick)_ Poke, poke!

**LP8:** _(Sighs and sits up)_ Hopefully, this chapter was okay at least. The two of us had big writer's block, so I kind of think this chapter sucks.

Oh and we would like to thank a reviewer: The Elemental Alchemist Reyna.

Thank you for taking your time and reviewing! It made me so happy!

Well, please leave a review on your way out?

**Both:** Buh-bye!


	7. Chapter 7: Let's Cry Together

I felt like I was one of those people who were being interrogated on those…detective shows. I didn't really like the feeling, and my aunt made it even more realistic by turning off the kitchen light, and shining a small flashlight in my eyes.

"Aunt Jenny, can you please turn back on the kitchen lights? The flashlight you have shining in my eyes is blinding me." It was hard to see, since I was squinting my eyes.

"Oh…" Aunt Jenny mumbled, clicking off the flashlight and walking over to the lights. I sighed in relief. Did she really have to question me like that? Aunt Jenny smiled as she walked back over to me. She pulled out a chair across from me and continued to smile.

"Now…did you make any friends?" I tapped my chin in thought. Of course, there was Keitaro, Miki and Lucy. But, could I really count Eiji and Fuji as my friends as well? Sure, we talked quite a bit…we even hung out. Well…I was actually dragged around by Eiji, but it was kind of like hanging out. Maybe they were just being nice since I was the new kid.

Finally I gazed over at Aunt Jenny who looked restless; she must really want to know if I did make any friends. I was, actually, still in shock that I even made three! Although…Lucy kind of just announced that she would be our friend, but, I did like her. She was quite nice…although…she does have her…insane moments. But she was a good girl at heart…at least I think.

"So, did you?" I blinked at Aunt Jenny who was now tapping her fingers lightly on the table, her eyes looking over my face.

I nodded. "Yes, I made a few."

Aunt Jenny gasped and smiled, clapping her hands.

"What are their names? You have to tell me! Oh! You should bring them over for dinner someday! That would be wonderful; I really want to meet them!" Aunt Jenny blabbed.

A small sigh escaped my lips. "Next time, I am keeping that to myself." I thought.

"Lizzy? Hello, earth to Lizzy!" I once again blinked as a hand was waved in front of me. Aunt jenny puffed out her cheeks like a child and crossed her arms. She somehow…reminded me of Lucy.

Scary.

"So, what are your little friend's names?" Aunt Jenny questioned, tilting her head to one side.

"Oh, um, Amu Miki, Fujiwaka Keitaro and Philips Lucy," I replied, counting them off one at a time.

"Did you say Amu Miki?" I was quite confused at the shock that showed in my Aunt's eyes. Her mouth was in a gape as she stared at me with disbelief.

"Yes, I did. Why do you ask?" I asked curiously.

"Amu-san is one of the richest families in Japan! Did you not know this?" I said nothing as I was also in shock. Miki…was rich?! I kind of got why she didn't tell me this, it wasn't very important, but I didn't see her being rich, just a genius.

"No, I didn't. But, it doesn't matter. I don't care if she has a lot of money or not, she's my friend, and that's all that matters." I said.

Aunt Jenny closed her mouth, and half closed her eyes as she warmly smiled at me. "Your parents…taught you well, didn't they." It was more of a statement than a question.

I lowered my eyes, as my parents happy smiling faces came to my mind. "Yes…yes they did. I couldn't ask…for anyone better…" I didn't know if Aunt Jenny felt hurt from what I said or not. Her and Uncle James were great guardians too…but, that did come from my heart.

"I someday hope…your Uncle and I…can be close to as great to you as your parents were, Lizzy." My aunt's hand was warm, as it was placed on my shoulder. Slowly, I lifted my head and looked at my happily smiling aunt.

"I'm sorry…If I had hurt you…" I mumbled apologetically.

"Don't worry, I understand what you mean. I'd probably say the same thing if I were you." A small, soft smile formed from my lips as I looked at my aunt.

"Thank you, Aunt Jenny." I didn't notice right away that a tear had slid down my cheek, until my aunt stood up and wiped it away. Slowly, she wrapped her warm, protective, loving arms around me and pulled me into a hug. Sure, I missed my parents, I missed them a lot. But, even thought I haven't been here in Japan for long, I already started to love it here. And Aunt Jenny and Uncle James had already grown close to my heart.

"I love you, Lizzy. You're like the daughter I've always wanted. I am so very glad, you came to Japan, so…very happy." Aunt Jenny sniffed. She was crying, she was crying…because I was crying.

"I love you too, Aunt Jenny." I leaned into her shoulder, and let another few tears out. For an hour or so, Aunt Jenny and I cried together. It was interesting that the conversation could go from talking from friends, to talking about my deceased parents and crying. But, crying with my aunt, never felt so good. I hadn't known I had kept all these emotions bundled up inside of me.

I hadn't known…my parents were going to suddenly…leave.

I hadn't known…I would come to Japan to live with my Aunt and Uncle.

I hadn't known…I would meet such great friends.

And, I hadn't known…I would already grow so close…to all of them.

I hadn't known a lot of things, but I hope…eventually…I would learn…I would learn many things, that I once…hadn't known.

* * *

_**(Three hours later)**_

"And then at the end of the school day, Lucy started to chase Keitaro around the school yard, yelling she was going to eat him, just to scare him for fun. It was quite amusing." My aunt and I laughed.

After the crying fest was over, my aunt and I went back to talking about my first day at school. And I had described everything to her in detail, she was quite amused. The both of us laughed, talked, and got to know each other a lot more. She even told me about some of her days when she was a child. She told me about how she met Uncle James and a lot of other interesting things that she did when she was a child/teenager.

"Well, I should get dinner started, you Uncle will be home any minute." Aunt Jenny suddenly spoke, once she was able to contain her laughter. "Why don't you go take a shower? I'm sure you'll feel much more refreshed if you do." I nodded and decided that she was right. I did need a shower, after being tackled to the ground by Lucy so many times today, I felt dirty.

My aunt waved to me as I headed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to my room. First, I wanted to grab a change of clothes so that I wouldn't have to wear my school uniform. Plus, it needed to be washed.

I opened the door to my room and sneezed. I needed to clean a little, since it was still a bit dusty in here. I made a mental not for later to grab some cleaning supplies this weekend, and take a couple of hours to clean my room.

After that thought, I walked over to my closest and opened it, pulling out a nice, long sleeved black shirt, and a pair of matching black shorts. I really liked wearing these around the house; they were very comfy to be in. And the shirt was nice and soft. Anyway, once I grabbed those I grabbed some undergarments and headed to the bathroom, which was down the hall on the left.

I placed my hand on the white door knob and opened the door, taking a step inside and closing the door behind myself. I placed my folded clothes on the bathroom sink and proceeded to strip myself of my school uniform and old undergarments. Once I was down, I turned on the hot water and slowly stepped into the shower, sighing in relief as the hot water soaked my petite body. I wasn't in bad shape or anything, I had an average body. I wasn't like one of those skinny girls, who look sickly. No, I had some baby fat, and I was pretty sure I would always have it, but I didn't have a bad body.

Once I finished washing my body, shaving my legs and under arms, and washing my hair, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a nice white fluffy towel around my body, walking over to the bathroom mirror. I wiped the steam from the mirror and grabbed a piece of my hair. I really did need to get it cut again; I didn't want it to be past my mid-back. I'm not a big fan of long hair, I hate having to take care of the knots that get in them.

Suddenly, there was a couple of small soft knocks on the door. I dropped the piece of hair that I held in my fingers and turned towards the door.

"Yes?" I spoke loudly enough for the person on the other side to here.

"Dinner is in five," I heard my aunt reply.

"Okay, I'll be down by then." I said. After that I hear my aunt turn her heel and leave down the hall. I sighed as I grabbed my clothes and proceeded to change into them.

After a few minutes, I finished brushing my hair and changing my clothes. I folded my uniform and took it with me as I headed down the hall and down the stairs of the house I now lived in. I walked into the kitchen, where I smelled the food that currently sat on the dining room table.

"Um…where is the washer machine?" I quietly questioned, breaking the silence.

"Oh!" My aunt gasped as she swiftly turned around a faced me.

"So-sorry, did I scare you?" I quickly asked.

Aunt Jenny chuckled. "No, don't worry. And it's in the back, just make a left in the kitchen, and then a right and it'll be in the back by the back door." I nodded and followed her instructions she had given me. And in no time, I was in the back room, putting my dirty school uniform in the washer machine and starting it up. Once that was going, I walked back to the kitchen, where my aunt and now my uncle sat at the table, both happily smiling at each other.

"Ah, welcome home, uncle." I spoke, gaining both of their attention.

"Elizabeth!" Uncle James practically shouted as he stood from his seat and hugged me. I returned the hug, and pulled away a moment later, soon sitting down in my own seat as he sat back down in his.

"So, care to tell me how school was?" he asked a moment later.

I nodded. "Okay,"

* * *

_**(A little while later)**_

Once dinner was finished I helped Uncle James with the dishes. We both decided to give Aunt Jenny a break from them, of course, the whole thing cause a water fight. And soon, my uncle and I were soaked to the bone, but we both had a lot of fun. After I changed into some pajamas, I joined both of my guardians in the living room. Aunt Jenny, who wanted to share some more of her old memories with me, brought in a few photo albums from years ago.

My aunt, uncle and I sat in a circle on the floor as Aunt Jenny opened up the first one.

"Oh! This was my first day of Junior high, for both your uncle and I." Aunt Jenny smiled, as she pointed to the photo of her and Uncle James as children.

"You both were childhood friends, who fell in love, right?" I asked with a grin.

Both my aunt and uncle blushed and looked away, before they narrowed their eyes at each other and smiled. I grinned at the two. It was true, that's what Aunt Jenny told me when she was telling me how she met my uncle. They had known each other since they were five, and started dating when they were in Junior high.

"Anyway, continuing on." Uncle James spoke, clearing his throat as he turned to the next page in the album.

"Oh?" One picture caught my eye. "Who are all of them?" I asked, pointing to the picture of quite a few smiling people.

"They were our friends from Junior high." Aunt Jenny replied before pointing her finger to the first one whose hair color was a very dark brown, almost black, actually. "See? That was my first friend I had met in school, her name was Emi."

"And then there is Sachi." Uncle James spoke as he pointed to a girl with dark blue hair. She was sticking her tongue out and giving a peace sign when the picture was taken. "Sachi was always the crazy one in our group." He laughed.

"Yes, she was. Oh! And there is Shuichi," Aunt Jenny said, pointing to the boy who's arm was around Emi's shoulder's. If you looked closely, you could see a small blush on Emi's face, but she was still giving Shuichi a glare.

"And then there's me and your aunt." Uncle James pointed out. I glanced down and looked at the picture once more; in the front were a young couple that I realized were my aunt and uncle. My uncle was behind my aunt, giving her a hug, and my aunt was holding onto his arms and smiling at the camera.

"Wow, so what happened to them?" I asked.

"Oh, we still talk. We even hang out with them quite a bit. Maybe you can meet them someday." I smiled happily; I really did want to meet their friends.

After another hour or so, my aunt went to go put back the photo albums when the phone started to ring. Uncle James stood up and went to answer it. I stayed at my seat on the floor before I heard my uncle calling my name. Now, I was confused. Who would be calling me? I didn't give anyone my number. Maybe it was Jun? Eh, possibly.

I shrugged and shook my thoughts away as I stood up and walked to the kitchen. My uncle handed the phone to me before leaving to the living room once again. Slowly, I placed the phone to my ear and spoke into it.

"Hello?"

_"Liz-chan! She found my house! Help me!!"_ I blinked at the voice in distress.

"…Kei-chan…?"

"Yes! It's me! Liz-chan, hel-…" There was a muffled sound coming from the back ground, and I think I heard something drop to the ground.

"Um…Kei-chan…?" I mumbled.

_"Liz-chaaaaan!"_ I quickly pulled the phone away from my ear. I think I just lost my hearing in that one. So, I put it, slowly, to my other ear.

"Lu-chan?" I questioned.

_"Oh, I thought you died for a minute there."_ Lucy spoke.

"No…I just lost my hearing in my left ear." I said with a roll of my eyes.

_"Oh, well that doesn't really matter. Now, anyway, I ran into someone today, but I cannot remember his name…"_ she uttered.

I blinked, ignoring what she said as a thought came to my mind. "Um…how did you get my number?"

_"He had red hair though, and a band-aid on his cheek." _She, of course ignored me, and I, of course, ignored her back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute, how did you get my number, and what did you do to Keitaro?" I questioned.

_"Nooo! Gimme back the phone dammit! Give it back!"_ I heard Lucy shout in the background.

"Eh…?" Now I was utterly confused.

_"Hello? Boyer-san? Are you there?"_

"Miki?" Okay…what the hell was going on?

_"A__h, good, for a minute there I thought you might have hung up." _Miki sighed.

"Um, no, but I have a question..." I spoke.

_"Shoot."_

"How'd you get my number…?"

_"Do you really want to know?"_

I was now…scared.

"Uh, no, not really." I quickly replied.

_"Okay. Now, onto another subje-…"_

_"I'mma eat you!" _I heard Lucy shout.

_"Aaaah! Liz-chaaaaan! Save me!"_ Both Miki and I sighed. Sorry, Keitaro, but I am not anywhere near you.

"Anyway, what is that you three called me for?" I asked as I tried to get back onto topic.

_"Oh, that's right. Well, earlier, Philips-san, Fujiwaka-san and I all ran into each other at the supermarket, and we also happened to run into Kikumaru-san as well. When he realized who we were, he started to ask questions about you. And he wanted one of us to ask if you would come to the tennis match tomorrow and cheer for his team." _Miki explained thoroughly.

"Oh? Don't we have school tomorrow?" I asked.

_"No, I forgot to mention we don't. Philips-san forgot herself as well, I had to remind her. Anyway, the three of us were thinking of going as well, and Kikumaru-san seemed to really want you to come. It seems he has taken a liking to you, Boyer-san." _Miki chuckled.

"Please, don't say that." I said in a monotone voice.

_"No one is getting near MY Liz-chan! They have to go through my test if they want to date her!" _Lucy shouted.

_"She's not your Liz-chan! She's MY Liz-chan!"_ I heard Keitaro argue.

_"I'mma eat you if you don't shut the hell up!"_ Lucy threatened.

_"Liz-chan!"_ Keitaro cried.

"Can I please go now?" I asked.

_"Heh, yes, but I would wish to know if you are coming or not? If you are, then expect the three of us to come for you in the morning." _Miki said.

"Yes, I'll come. I think Kikumaru-san might be a little upset if I don't…" I mumbled.

_"Hm, well, see you around seven or so."_

Another sigh escaped my lips as I stuck the phone back on its receiver. I could already tell, that tomorrow, was going to be a very long day.

* * *

**LP8: **Yep, no translations today!

**Bloodpuppy:** That's only because there was no Japanese.

**LP8:** Yes, and you know, I kind of did miss doing the translations…

**Bloodpuppy:** You must be sick.

**LP8:** …Be quite…

Anyway, the both of us are VERY sorry for the long wait. I kept getting dragged across the country for the past month. And I will never get back in another car for a very long time.

The both of us would like to thank: The Elemental Alchemist Reyna, magic126, AkimotoAyumu, and Shino Kouba, for reviewing. Thank you! And we are VERY sorry for the wait.

We hope you leave a review? We'll update soon if we get some reviews!

**Both:** Buh-bye for now!

**_~LP8 and Bloodpuppy_**


	8. Chapter 8: Enter Kihara Shinji!

Before I could even walk out of the kitchen, I was surrounded by my aunt and uncle who both gave me questioning looks. I sighed; I knew where this was going to lead to.

"So who was that on the phone, Lizzy?" Aunt Jenny asked first.

"Eh, it was Miki, Lucy and Keitaro." I replied with a wave of my hand.

"And what did they need?" Uncle James asked.

"They just wanted to ask if I would go see this tennis tournament tomorrow with them." I said. Knowing them, they were most likely going to let me go, so that I could spend time with my… 'Little friends'. I just hope Aunt Jenny isn't going to…

"I know! You should invite them over for dinner tomorrow evening as well!" Aunt Jenny squealed in delight.

"Too late…" I sighed.

"What a brilliant idea, honey!" My uncle praised my aunt as he pulled her into a hug.

Aunt Jenny nodded her head and smiled. "I know, I know!"

"Do they even know what kind of chaos will happen if I invite them over for dinner?" That was the question that ran through my head for the past few minutes as my aunt and uncle began to talk over dinner plans for tomorrow night.

"Are you really already planning? I haven't even asked them yet." I spoke.

My aunt and uncle ignored me as they continued to plan the dinner. I tapped my foot for a few minutes as I waited for the two of them to stop what they were doing. Of course, they didn't. I sighed before smiling at the two. I guess they were really excited to meet my friends.

A minute later and I was already walking up the stairs towards my bedroom. I thought that I had enough excitement for one night, and that if Miki and the others were coming for me around seven or so, then I should probably head to bed so I wouldn't be grumpy in the morning.

I opened the door to my room and closed it behind myself as I walked over to my bed. I was already in my pajamas so I didn't need to change or anything. I crawled into my bed and under my covers before once again sighing.

Really, I knew that tomorrow was going to be a VERY long day.

And then…I closed my eyes.

* * *

_**(The next morning)**_

"Lizzy! Your little friends are going to be here any minute!" My aunt called me as she knocked lightly on my door.

"I know!" I called back. It was ten minutes after eight and I had just woken up fifteen minutes ago. I didn't have enough time to take a shower, all I had time to do was eat breakfast and change my clothes. Which, I was doing right now. I had a feeling that I should wear my school uniform, so I grabbed it off my bed and started to change into it. It seems that my aunt had put it in the dryer for me last night. I would have to thank her later.

Once I was done changing, I grabbed my hair brush off my dresser and proceeded to brush the tangles out of my hair. I decided to leave it down, but since I would be sitting out in the sun today, I grabbed my dark green hat and placed it on top of my head.

Satisfied with myself, I walked out of my room, down the hall and down the stairs, where both my aunt and uncle stood in the front door hallway with a camera.

'Click' went the sound of the camera as my uncle snapped a picture of me.

"Um, what was that for?" I asked in a mumble.

"We just want to be able to remember this day." My Aunt Jenny grinned happily.

I jokingly rolled my eyes and made my way to the front door, slipping on my shoes as I did. I opened the door and stuck my hand outside. It wasn't too bad out there; it was quite nice, actually. I guess I won't need a jacket today.

"I hope you have fun, Elizabeth." I smiled at Uncle James who smiled back at me.

"I will, and when I get back, the others and I will tell you all about it." Once that was said, I closed the door and sighed. Fresh air never felt so good.

"Oi! Liz-chan! Over here!" My smile got bigger when I heard Lucy's voice. Running over to where my friends were waiting for me, Lucy grabbed me into a hug. Which, I didn't mind one bit.

"Yay! Finally! We can leave to Shikinomori sports park!" she exclaimed.

"Did I keep you all waiting?" I asked titling my head to one side confused.

Miki shook her head. "No, it's just that these two idiots got lost in my house." She said pointing to Lucy and Keitaro.

"It's not our fault your maid just let us find you ourselves." Keitaro said.

"Yeah! Your house is fricken huge man!" Lucy exclaimed again.

Miki glanced at the two with a confused look. "Huge? I think it's a pretty normal sized house…"

I chuckled as Lucy and Keitaro sweat dropped. I couldn't say anything since I haven't been to Miki's house yet.

Then, I suddenly blinked as I realized that wearing my school uniform was a good thing, since my friends wore theirs as well. I didn't feel like asking about it, so I left it alone. Soon enough my friends and I were heading down the street.

"So how far away is the sports park?" I asked as the four of us turned the corner and continued to walk down the next street.

"About…five minutes away from where you live, actually," Keitaro replied.

I eyed my red headed friend. "By foot or car?"

* * *

_**(20 minutes later…)**_

"So it was by car!" I exclaimed rather loudly.

"Great, wonderful, Kei-chan!" Lucy spoke rolling her eyes. "Now we probably missed half of the matches. We were late in the first place anyways!"

"**Sorry**," I blinked confused before I turned towards Miki.

"That means, 'sorry' right?" I asked her.

Miki nodded and pushed her glasses up with her middle finger. "Yes,"

I nodded my head before I turned back to Keitaro who was still apologizing to us.

"Don't worry, Kei-chan, I shouldn't have over reacted like that." I said softly, giving my good friend an apologetic smile.

"Nah, I'm sorry, Liz-chan, I should've known if it was five minutes by foot or car, so now you probably missed most of one or two matches." Keitaro said.

"That's alright." I smiled at him. "Let's just hope I made it time for Kikumaru-san's match."

"Aww!" The next thing I knew I was being hugged by Lucy who attached herself to my waist. "Look at little Liz-chan using Japanese!" she squealed. Wasn't really any Japanese…oh well.

I sighed. "Yes, yes…now can we please get going to the courts?" Lucy, Miki and Keitaro nodded their heads as I motioned towards the entrance to the sports park.

Quickly, the four of us made our way to the courts, and luckily, just in time for Eiji's match. It did take us a few more minutes until we found the right court

"Alright! We're time in for…what's-his-name's match!" Lucy happily exclaimed.

Keitaro nodded as he rubbed his chin lightly, staring out at the courts where Eiji's match took place. I turned my head to look as well, and if I was right, it was a doubles match. I wonder who Eiji's partner is-…

"Kikumaru-san is about to get hit with a tennis ball." Miki spoke.

Lucy, Keitaro and I gasped. "What?"

"Never mind, he dodged hit the ball back." Miki said, pushing up her glasses with her index finger. I swear I saw some sort of gleam coming from her glasses. Almost…evil.

Scary. And I am pretty sure Lucy and Keitaro agreed with me.

"Man, we need to start paying attention to the match," Lucy muttered.

Keitaro and I nodded. "Agree,"

The game continued on, but I didn't quite understand tennis, so I was a bit confused. Especially since everyone was talking in Japanese, and I didn't bother to ask one of my friends to translate, since they were watching Eiji's match and I didn't want to interrupt them.

"Man…our school's team is kicking the other school's ass." Lucy grinned.

"You must be very happy." Miki said to Lucy.

"I am! I didn't know tennis could be this exciting!" Lucy replied as she jumped up and down a couple of times.

"I still cannot believe we brought HER here…" Keitaro muttered.

"Who's…'her'?" Lucy questioned as she innocently titled her head to the side and looked at Keitaro.

Cue the sweat drops.

Suddenly, a soft, deep voice chuckled from behind us. "Well, you four are an interesting bunch."

Blinking, Miki, Keitaro, Lucy and I turned our heads and stared at the person behind us. In his right hand was a video camera that was currently held up to his left eye. I assumed he was video taping this whole event. He wore rectangular glasses and our schools uniform.

Lucy took a step forward. "Um…who the hell are you?" she asked bluntly, pointing her finger at the mysterious boy.

Before the unknown boy was able to answer Lucy's, quite rude, question. Miki stepped in between the two and sighed, before motioning her hand towards the unknown boy.

"This is, Kihara Shinji. He goes to our school and he is in one of Keitaro's classes." She explained.

"And he speaks…English…" I mumbled, but loud enough for all of them to hear.

"And he has a video camera with him." Keitaro pointed out.

"Thanks for telling us, Captain Obvious." Lucy sarcastically said with a roll of her eyes.

"Oi!"

Miki and I only sighed and Shinji chuckled.

"You two are very amusing." Shinji commented Lucy and Keitaro, who only ignored him as they continued on their fight and then some how…the fight came to cup cakes. Yeah…I don't want to know.

"No! They only taste good with chocolate frosting on them!" Lucy shouted.

"What? You're a sick, sick woman! Sweets are too…sweet!" Keitaro shouted back.

"That's the whole damn point!"

Cue two more sweat drops.

Shinji chuckled again as he continued to find this all amusing.

_"What a strange boy he is…"_ I thought.

That's when, he turned to me.

"You think I am strange, don't you?" he asked with a small smirk.

I blinked. That was weird. How did he know what I was thinking-…oh no…not another Miki. C'mon, God! I'm fine with one Miki! Don't give me another one! Don't you know the world will EXPLODE?

That's what I wish to shout out, at least.

"God can't help you right now…" Shinji whispered in my ear as he slipped an arm around my shoulder. I made a small scared sound and jumped, only to have Shinji amused by my reaction.

"Oh gosh! You all are too funny!" he laughed. "I'm going to stick around you four for now on."

"How is it that everyone just chooses to stick around us?" I asked, turning to Miki.

"…I blame you, Boyer-san." Miki said quite bluntly to me.

"Thanks, you're a wonderful friend, Miki." I said with a roll of my eyes.

Miki smiled. "Do not worry, I am only kidding."

I smiled back. "I know."

"Kyaa! Cute friendship! Now I am definitely sticking with you four!" and with that said from Shinji, I was hugged from the back.

"Oof!" and then fell to the ground.

"What he is doing to MY Liz-chan?" Lucy asked deadly as she glared daggers at Shinji, who was still hugging me even though we were on the ground. Weird thing is, he didn't seemed bothered by Lucy glaring at him. "Only I can hug, Liz-chan from behind and push her to the ground!"

"It sounds like you OWN her," Keitaro spoke.

"I do!" Lucy retorted.

"Since when?" Keitaro questioned.

"Since…I said so!"

Miki sighed and shifted until she was facing Keitaro and Lucy.

"So, I am guessing you two are done fighting?" she questioned.

Lucy and Keitaro nodded. "We've been done for about two minutes now," they both coursed.

"The wonders of being an idiot," Miki mumbled.

"Oi!"

"They're…not going to help me…" I sighed.

"Nope, they're not. But I will." Shinji smiled. I blinked as I felt the weight of his body suddenly disappearing. I was able to breathe again. But, then suddenly, I was pulled up from the ground like a rag doll and I became dizzy.

"Whoa…" I gasped. I sighed in relief as my feet touched the ground. The only thing that amazed me was that someone, much smaller than I, was able to pick me up like that.

"So, you're the new student from America, am I right?" Shinji asked as he gave me a polite smile.

"Ah, yes, I am. I'm Boyer Elizabeth." I said introducing myself.

Shinji did a small bow. "Kihara Shinji, nice to meet you, Boyer-san,"

"Same," I smiled.

* * *

_**(Miki, Lucy and Keitaro)**_

"It's amazing that she can get along with anyone." Keitaro muttered.

"That's Liz-chan for you." Lucy sighed.

Keitaro nodded. "It's also amazing that almost every person she meets, knows English…"

"It must be a gift from God after she lost her parents." Miki spoke.

Staring dumbfounded and shocked at Miki, the two friends tilted their heads to one side. "Huh?"

"Oh? You didn't know? About a month ago, Boyer-san's parents were in a terrible car accident, coming home from their honeymoon, which they have every year. Boyer-san was devastated and was sent to live with her grandparents after the funeral. She stayed with them for a few weeks, before they both had announced that they weren't able to take care of her anymore. They loved her, but weren't able to feed her, along with themselves. And that's when Boyer-san received a call from her Aunt and Uncle, who live here in Japan. That's how she came here." Miki explained thoroughly.

"How the hell do you know all of this?" Lucy asked astounded and slightly scared.

Miki smirked. "I do my research."

* * *

_**(Elizabeth)**_

"Oh, you're parents made you take three years of English?" I asked as the conversation between Shinji and I continued. The video camera never left his hands. I wonder how he didn't drop it when he hugged me. …I need to get used to all this stuff that just randomly happens.

"Yes, it was very fun." Shinji nodded.

I opened my mouth to speak, but suddenly I was grabbed from behind and was put into a head lock by the one and only, Keitaro.

"Liz-chan, you're missing the match! Kikumaru-san won't be too happy if you do!" he exclaimed. I gasped. I had completely forgotten all about the match when Shinji just suddenly popped up and started to talk to us.

"Oh no!" I exclaimed, pushing Keitaro off of my with some force before I ran up to the seats and sat down as I watched Eiji's match go on. I felt so bad now.

Miki, Shinji, Keitaro and Lucy soon walked up to me and sat down in some seats as well. I quickly turned to Miki as I wanted to ask her a question.

"What's some Japanese words I could use to cheer on Eiji and his partner?" I quickly asked her.

"'**Go**'," Miki responded.

I nodded my head in thanks to her before I stood from my seat and took in a deep breath.

"**Go, Kikumaru-san!**" I shouted. Then I sat back down a smiled.

And if I saw right, a small smile appeared upon Eiji's lips, but he did not turn his head as he was in the middle of his tennis match.

"It is…about to rain." Shinji spoke.

Damn…I should have brought an umbrella.

* * *

**LP8:** I hope the chapter was at least a bit good. Bloodpuppy and I had writer's block.

**Bloodpuppy:**_(Nods her head)_Yes, we both hope that you enjoyed it at least.

**LP8:** It's weird that Elizabeth just suddenly has people announce that they are her friends just like that…

**Bloodpuppy:** …Didn't you write this?

**LP8:** Possibly…I'm still losing bets against myself though.

**Bloodpuppy:** O.O

**Both:** Well, we would like to thank: magic126, AkimotoAyumu, The Elemental Alchemist Reyna, and lumist, for reviewing. Thank you all!

The next update shall be soon, hopefully. Please leave a review and we'll get back to you.

Buh-bye!

_**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**_


	9. Chapter 9: They What?

"Aw…I didn't bring an umbrella." Keitaro muttered as he covered his head with a hat he pulled out of his bag.

I sighed as I remembered that I also didn't bring an umbrella. I listened to the people around the tennis courts as they all frantically looked for umbrellas'.

"Hey! Gimme that you little demon!" I blinked.

"Keitaro, who are you talking to-…Oh…Lucy," I said.

Lucy grinned happily as the hat Keitaro held just a moment ago was now on her head. Miki looked blanked as she suddenly pulled an umbrella out and opened it. She then watched as Keitaro continued to shout at Lucy who pushed Keitaro back using her right leg and arm.

"She's not even struggling. That girl amazes me." Miki spoke.

I nodded before sighing again. "Looks like I'm going home soaking wet today…"

"I'll share my umbrella with y-…"

"Boyer-san! Let's share an umbrella!" Shinji exclaimed as he pulled me towards him until one of his arms were around my waist, keeping me from suddenly falling to the ground. His other arm held his video camera up to his eye. He was also holding the umbrella with the same hand that had the video camera in it. I didn't want to know how he wasn't struggling.

I blushed in embarrassment. "Ah…thanks…Kihara-san."

"No problem!" Shinji replied with a grin.

I chuckled. He was such a sweet boy. Suddenly, a shiver ran down my spine, making me slightly confused. It wasn't cold out, so why-…is it just me, or is there an evil fire surrounding Lucy, Keitaro and Miki. And why are they staring at Shinji?

"A lob ball! He slipped!" Someone shouted.

I quickly turned back to the tennis game, just in time to see Eiji swiftly jumped around and hit the tennis ball.

"It's coming again?" The guy on the other side of the court spoke loudly. "Even in the rain his reflexes are as fast as a cat? How can that be?"

As the tennis ball reached the other side of the court, Eiji quickly dived down, putting his hand on the ground. He then stood up and ran to one side of the court. The other team was in shock.

"How can he move so fast?"

"He's already in position to return the shot…"

Eiji smirked, but did nothing as the ball passed him, only to have his partner come up from behind him and hit it back.

"Too…too powerful!" Someone exclaimed.

"Game set, Seigaku 6 to 2!" I smiled happily.

"**Go, Kikumaru-san**!" I shouted again as I stood up from my set. Eiji grinned as he waved at me. I waved back.

"I'm going to go see, Kikumaru-san. Keitaro, can you be my translator?" I asked as I turned towards my red headed friend. Keitaro nodded happily and jumped from his seat. He grabbed my hand and as we both started to jog off, I believe he grabbed his hat back from Lucy.

"**Bastard**!"

I laughed when Keitaro fake gasped. "She just called me a bastard!"

* * *

_**(?)**_

Her long blond hair swayed back and forth. Her green eyes were focused on the side walk in front of her. Music blasted in her ears. She quietly sang along to the music as she turned the corner and jogged down the next street.

Jenny smiled as she soon jogged up to her house. She loved going for morning jogs; she felt a lot better after it, and it always helps her get her mind off of things. Not that anything was going wrong right now.

"I should probably check the mail box…" she thought, glancing at the mail box in front of her house. Shifting her feet, she walked over to the green painted mail box and opened it up, grabbing a few envelopes out of it.

Happily smiling to herself, Jenny skipped up the steps to her house and unlocked the front door with her key.

After getting inside and settling down, Jenny flopped herself on the couch and grabbed the mail off the coffee table that was in front of her.

"Bills...bills, bills, bills, bi-…A…Will? …Lizzy…"

* * *

"Alright, stay behind the fence." I nodded and did as Keitaro told me as we both came up to where Seigaku tennis team sat. I walked around the fence as I peeked through, trying to find Eiji. I gained a bit of attention from the other players, as well as Keitaro, but I didn't care. I just wanted to find Eiji.

"Found him!" Keitaro announced. He tugged on my hand as he pulled me over a ways. I smiled at the back of Eiji's head.

"Poke," I whispered as I poked the back of Eiji's head.

Eiji blinked before he turned around the face me. Then, he smiled.

"Boyer-san!" He squealed.

I waved at him.

"Ne, sen wo mita? Eiji asked.

I then turned to Keitaro.

"Translation: 'Did you see the match?'" he repeated to me in English.

I nodded and turned back to Eiji. Eiji smiled at me as I blanked. I didn't know what say back. I didn't know much Japanese. Crap!

"Say: '**Yes, you were great!**'" Keitaro whispered to me. I nodded and smiled gratefully at him before turning back to Eiji.

"**Yes, you were great!**" I said.

Eiji opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by me sneezing.

"Achoo!" Quickly, Keitaro handed me a handkerchief with a concerned expression. I took the handkerchief politely and wiped around my mouth and then nose.

"**Ah! Are you sick? Do you need to go see a doctor?**" Eiji questioned me with concern.

I blinked and turned towards Keitaro.

"Translation: 'Ah! Are you sick? Do you need to go see a Doctor?'" he said.

I knew how to answer this one.

Turning back to Eiji, I gave him a small reassuring smile. "**No, I'm okay**."

Eiji sighed. He once again opened his mouth to say something, but then suddenly, the cell phone Uncle James had let me borrow a while ago; started to ring.

"**Sorry**," I spoke. I hope I said that right. Anyway, Eiji and Keitaro both nodded their heads at me as I began to walk a bit away from the two of them. I grabbed the cell phone out of my pocket and flipped it open.

Then I spoke. "Hello?"

_"Lizzy?"_ I blinked. Aunt Jenny?

"Aunt Jenny? Is something wrong?" I asked.

_"Ah, well, I just wanted to inform you that you have a letter…"_

I blinked again. "A letter? From who?"

_"Well, you're parents. It's their Will."_Aunt Jenny replied.

"Eh…their Will…?"

_"Yes. But I thought when you lived with your grandparents that they would have had the Will sorted out at the Wake Ceremony a month ago."_ Aunt Jenny said.

"Ah, no, my parents hid the Will somewhere where no one could find it. They asked for me to look for it or even asked if they had even written one. I couldn't find it and gave up after a while." I replied. "May I ask what the return addresses is."

_"Oh, um, let's see…the return address is: Lincoln Gutter Rd. Third Ave. That's all it says…"_ Aunt Jenny mumbled.

I gasped. "Grandma? Grandpa? They had the Will?"

_"Oh? So your grandparents sent you this?"_

"Yes."

_"Alright, well, I'll leave it on your desk. I got to go now; I have to do some grocery shopping before I start dinner. I love you,"_

"…I love you too, Auntie." I said giving her a sudden nick name that randomly popped into my head.

Aunt jenny giggled. _"Bye-bye, Lizzy,"_

I sighed as I clicked the off button and stuck the phone back into the pocket. I turned my head slightly and looked at Eiji and Keitaro who were currently talking to one another. I smiled at Eiji who was grinning like a cat. He was so cute. Uh…I mean in a kid-ish way.

I shook my head of those thoughts and walked back over to my two friends. I guess I can consider Eiji a friend by now, right?

"I'm back." I announced to Keitaro.

"**Welcome back, nya!**" Eiji happily said.

I turned back to Keitaro, who only shook his head.

"Just say: 'Arigato'" Keitaro told me.

I nodded and once again turned back to Eiji.

"Arigato," I smiled at him.

"Kaidoh's 'snake shot'—was returned!" Someone shouted out loudly. Eiji, Keitaro and I blinked as the three of us looked out to the tennis courts, only to see a match going on. This time it was a single's match, and the one named Kaidoh was wearing a bandana. The other person looked like he was jumping around to some sort of beat.

The three of us watched the match in silence for a few moments before I decided on something. I wanted to see that Will.

I lightly tapped Eiji's shoulder to gain back his attention. Eiji smiled at me.

"**Sorry, Kikumaru, but I have to go.**" Wow…Aunt Jenny's teaching is paying off a lot.

"**But** …" Eiji mumbled as he frowned slightly.

"**Sorry,**" Then, I bowed politely at him. Hey…I'm starting to get the hang of this.

I waved him at and smiled. "**Bye-bye**." and before Eiji could even speak, I grabbed Keitaro's hand and rushed off back to my friends.

"What was that all about?" Keitaro questioned.

I shook my head. "Nothing. I have a favor to ask of you though,"

"I'm listening…"

"First: My aunt would like to know if you want to have dinner with us tonight." I said.

Keitaro beamed. "I'd love too!"

I smiled. "Can you ask the other's for me? I have to go home…"

"Why?"

"I have something I need to look at. Please? Can you?" I asked sweetly.

"Alright, alright I will." Keitaro sighed before smiling.

"Thanks."

* * *

_**(20 minutes later)**_

"Aunt Jenny, I'm home." I called out as I entered my house. I slipped off my shoes and slipped into some slippers. I've finally started to get a hang of all this Japanese style stuff.

I quietly walked into the living, in search for my aunt. I giggled in my hand when I found her snoring softly on the couch. A book covered half of her face and she looked peaceful as she slept. I lightly took the book out of her hands and placed it on the coffee table. I then grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and gently placed it over my aunt.

I then quickly, but quietly slipped out of the living and up stairs towards my room, where the Will sat on my desk. I opened the door and quickly closed it as I entered my room. My hazel eyes immediately landed on the envelope that lied on my desk.

I took a deep breath before walking over to my chair. I sat down and grabbed the envelope. For some odd reason, I was kind of scared to open it. I didn't know why, but I wish I knew. I shook my head of those thoughts and started to unseal the envelope. Just as I was about to grab the piece of paper out of it, another piece of paper suddenly fell out and to the ground.

"What's this…?" I quietly asked myself as I bent down and grabbed the folded paper. I blinked to myself. It was a…letter from my grandparents.

_Dear Elizabeth,_

_Your parents Will is in this envelop. You are too young to have any of this stuff your parents left behind for you for now, so make sure to keep the Will safe, okay dear?_

_You grandmother and I are sorry that we could not take care of you no longer. The two of us wish you a happy life in Japan._

_With love,_

_Papi_

I smiled softly at the piece of paper. I turned towards a drawer in my desk and opened it, sticking the letter from my grandparents in it. After that, I grabbed the envelope again and took out the Will and began to read it.

* * *

"THEY LEFT EVERYTHING TO ME?" I screeched loudly, jumping up from my seat.

"Lizzy? Lizzy? What's wrong?" Aunt Jenny questioned as she came into my room quickly with a worried expression.

"My…my parents…" I gasped.

"What? What about your parents?" Aunt Jenny asked me as she lightly placed a hand upon my shoulder.

"They left EVERYTHING to ME." I said to my aunt.

"What? Really?" Aunt Jenny asked.

I nodded and handed the Will to her. She took the Will out of my hands and looked over it. Once she was done, she handed the Will back to me and looked at me.

"You're going to put the Will somewhere safe, right?" she asked me.

"Yes…"

Aunt Jenny nodded. "You're parents loved you a lot. You should feel very grateful about them leaving everything to you. They must want you to have a great future." I said nothing as Aunt Jenny looked at me with a smile. "I'm going to get dinner started, your uncle should be home any minute and your friends will also be here soon. You should change."

I only nodded at her words. Aunt Jenny sighed as she stood up from the floor and walked over to my door.

"Sorry…for waking you." I mumbled quietly.

Aunt Jenny blinked and turned towards me with a smile. "That's okay."

And then she left, closing the door behind herself.

I sighed.

"Did you two really leave EVERYTHING to me?" I questioned as I looked at the picture in the frame that was of my parents.

Silence overcame the room. Why did they leave everything to me? They had other close family member's. Well, I've heard when someone's an only child they usually get everything after their parents died. The first funeral I ever went to was my parents. I don't understand a lot of things. Since I was home schooled my whole life I never really made any friends. I didn't know what it was like to go out somewhere and have a good time with people you care for and love. I didn't know all of that until now.

I guess…I still have a lot to learn.

* * *

**LP8:** Would have gotten this chapter up sooner, but I have been incredibly lazy lately. We tried our best on this chapter. Not much humor, but there will be lot's more in the next. I was trying to put a lot of Eiji in this one, but I had some writer's block, and so did Bloodpuppy. We get that a lot. I'll be putting Eiji and the other's in a lot more in possibly...the next chapter or chapter 11. So watch for that!

**Bloodpuppy:** There better be lots of humor in the next chapter! And yeah, all you have been doing was going to school, maybe a couple of chores, but then you spent the rest of your time in your room watched anime or sleeping.

**LP8:** …Thanks for reminding me…

**Bloodpuppy:** You're welcome!

**Both: **We would like to thank: Jazz, The Elemental Alchemist Reyna, TsukinoShiniitaru, and mewmewlover23, for reviewing. Thank you!

We'll try to update…possibly next week.

Review please!

**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**


	10. Chapter 10: Enter Oishi!

My footsteps echoed through the halls of my Aunt and Uncle's house. I had just finished drying my hair and changing my clothes in my room and decided to go see if Aunt Jenny needed some help in the kitchen. The house was silent, no sound was made, which made me a bit worried about my aunt so I hurried down stairs and into the kitchen where my aunt sat at the kitchen table with her head down. I gasped and ran to her side in worry.

"Aunt Jenny? Aunt Jenny?" I repeated as I shook her shoulders roughly.

"Is there something you need, Lizzy?" My aunt asked in a mumble.

I took my hands off her shoulders and folded them together as I stared at the back of my aunt's head, sighing in relief. She was okay. I blinked as I felt something slid down my cheek. I brought my finger and wiped it off, to realize I was crying a bit. Why was I crying? Was it because I was scared something had happen to Aunt Jenny? Was that it?

I shrugged off those thoughts and answered her question from before. "I thought something had happened to you, it was very quiet in the house and when I came down stairs, I saw you like this." I said.

Aunt Jenny lifted her head and turned towards me with tired eyes.

"Nothing is wrong, Lizzy. I am sorry for worrying you, I just feel a bit sick today, and I am tired, that is all. Don't worry about me." Aunt Jenny said giving me a reassuring smile. I nodded watching my aunt stand from her seat and walk over to the oven, setting the pre-heat before turning back to me.

"Why don't you go explore around for a little while. Dinner won't be ready for just a little while longer, and I'm sure you would at least like to look around town, since you haven't done that yet, have you?" Aunt Jenny questioned.

I shook my head no and remained silent.

"Oh!" My aunt suddenly exclaimed as she put her index finger to her chin. "Here, you should take this with you…" she mumbled as she walked into the living room, motioning for me to follow her. I did so and watched as she went over to a cabinet pulled something out.

It turned out to be a digital camera.

I tilted my head to the side, confused. "A camera?" I asked her.

"Yep, I would have given you the old one. That would probably be better, but I cannot find it, sadly, so I'll just let you use this one." Aunt Jenny said as she handed me the digital camera. "And look! It even has a strap around it so you can hand it around your neck. Cool, ne?" she grinned.

I grinned back at her. "Yeah," I grabbed the strap and slowly stuck it around my neck until the camera hung around my chest.

"Cute," Aunt Jenny complimented. I looked away and sweat dropped. How is a camera hanging around my neck cute?

"Thanks," I said anyways.

"Alright, now get out there and explore, but make sure to be back before six, dinner will be ready by then. Have fun and take lots of pictures." With that said, I was practically pushed out of the house by my happy aunt. "And take pictures of cute boys as well!" she added. I sweat dropped again. "Oh and take this umbrella! You came home soaking wet earlier and it's still a bit rainy!"

"Right, right…" I said, mostly to myself as I began to walk down the street-with the umbrella that Aunt Jenny threw at me-over my head.

* * *

_**(-An hour later-)**_

As I explored around town I stopped a few times to take a couple of pictures of the trees, flowers, some old buildings, but nothing really caught my eye. There wasn't really anything to take a picture of besides the normal stuff. What did Aunt Jenny want me to take pictures of, anyways?

"And take pictures of cute boys as well!"

I sweat dropped. No way was I going to do that! She was so teasing me! Why do I have to be teased about boys? It's not like I'm going to meet someone and like them soon, right? Argh…this is all too confusing! I should be thinking about learning Japanese and their cultures. Not boys!

This reminds me…I should probably apologize to Eiji about leaving so suddenly, I'll do that when I see him at school this Monday.

I sighed and pulled my camera back to my chest, wiping it off a bit with my handkerchief I kept in my pocket. "It's hard to take pictures in the rain. What's the point? I'll do this another day, when it isn't raining…" I said to myself.

"**Oh my, she doesn't look like she is from around here**." I heard someone whisper loudly. I blinked and glanced over at two older women, who looked at me. Were they actually talking about me? I wish I could understand them.

One of the women, who had her hair in a tight bun and wore business clothes, scoffed and practically gave me a deadly glare. I flinched and turned away, was it something bad?

"**She's just another one of those foreigners. Scum, always coming around here.**" The cold older looking woman spoke in a cold tone. A shiver ran down my spine and I felt her cold eyes continue to glare at me. Whatever did I do to make her hate me? This is my first time seeing her.

"**Hey, leave her alone!**" Another voice shouted, making the sweet looking old lady flinch, but the cold looking lady scoffed and crossed her arms. The cold lady muttered something to her friend and the two took off quickly. I blinked, confused, and turned around to face a tall young looking woman, who stared angrily at the two fleeing older women. The first thing I noticed about her was how large her breasts were. Holy shit!

I smacked myself. "First thing I notice is that she has a larger chest. Bigger than mine, I've got to say. How can she live with those things?" I whispered lightly to myself. I mean…holy shit! I would have died!

The woman turned to me and smiled.

"**Hey, you look pretty cute. Want to buy some ice cream?**" she said to me. I blinked and she blinked her lavender colored eyes at me. "**Can you understand me? ...I guess not...**"

I blinked again. I was very confused right now. The woman sighed and messed around with her strawberry blonde hair and looked at me.

"I'm guessing you speak English?" She asked me in perfect English.

I nodded my head quickly. "Yes…and a tiny bit of Japanese…" I said back.

"Sheesh, you come to Japan and don't even know Japanese, that's stupid of you. Well, whatever, want to buy some ice cream?" the strange woman asked me. As I opened my mouth to reply, the strange woman grabbed my hand and began to pull me to a small shop.

"Of course you do." She stated herself. I sweat dropped and just let her drag me.

As we entered the small shop, a bell rang as the strange woman opened the door. She dragged me to the counter and told me to sit down and get comfortable. I did as she said and tapped my fingers on the glass table as I watched her go around to the other side of the counter. She sighed and closed her eyes as she seemed to become relaxed a bit. I stared at her blankly, thinking on what I should say.

"Um…" I mumbled, making the woman open her eyes and smile sweetly at me.

"Oops, I forgot to introduce myself," she started. "I'm Gibbs Abigail, or Abigail Gibbs, however you want me to say my name." Abigail said.

"Oh, um, nice to meet you, Gibbs-san; I'm Boyer Elizabeth." I said.

"Mind me asking something?" Abigail questioned. I told her to go on and she sighed heavily. "Why are you here in Japan? Are you just a tourist or what?" she asked.

"Is it really any of your business?" I asked back.

Abigail shrugged. "I dunno, I don't really care, just curious. That's all." She explained.

"I'm moved here because my parents died and my aunt and uncle asked if I wanted to come live with them, so I did. The move here was unexpected, so I didn't have any time to learn Japanese." I said looking down at the glass counter.

"Oh…I'm sorry for your loss." Abigail mumbled.

I shook my head and said nothing.

"Well here, I'll tell you something about myself: I was born in America, but lived here my whole life. My parents died four years ago and I have an older brother, Taro-kun, who six years older than me." Abigail spoke.

"I see," I mumbled. "I'm sorry for the loss of your parents, as well." I then said.

Abigail shook her head and spoke with a dead tone of voice, which quite surprised me. "They were scum…they shouldn't even be called parents. They were worthless…"

I blinked in shock.

"Uh…oh…I see." That was the only words I could utter.

A second later, Abigail blinked and happily smiled at me. "Just forget what I said! Now, do you want some ice cream, Boyer-san?' she asked me.

She kind of scared me, but I could tell she had a good heart.

"No…no thanks. Maybe another time, I have to head home for dinner soon, and I don't want to spoil it." I said.

"Okay, well I assume you might want to head back soon as well? Make sure to come by my shop again, and bring friends!" Abigail exclaimed with happiness. I nodded and softly smiled at her, jumping off my seat and walking towards the door.

"I will. Bye-bye, Gibbs-san," And then I left the ice cream shop and started my way home.

Bi-polar chick…

Wait…I never got to ask her what those two ladies said!

* * *

_**(-Ten Minutes Later-)**_

I kicked off my outdoor shoes as I entered my home and slipped on some slippers. Laughter erupted from the kitchen, which made me confused. Were Miki and the others here already? I glanced at the clock; five forty-five, maybe they were here.

"Might as well go check…" I muttered to myself as I walked past the living room and into the kitchen.

"I wish Kihara-san could have come as well, I wouldn't mind meeting another one of Elizabeth's friends." The voice of my uncle spoke.

"Well, speak of the devil." Miki smirked as she glanced at me. "Boyer-san finally came back." I grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head.

"Hey there, everyone," I greeted them all.

Aunt Jenny smiled. "Welcome back, Lizzy, dinner just finished." She said.

"Your friends are very unique, Elizabeth. They remind me of our old friends back when we were your age." Uncle James chuckled as he ruffled my hair and pulled me onto his lap. I sweat dropped.

"I'm not five anymore, Uncle James." I bluntly told him.

"I know," he stated. "But, I never got to do this when you were little, so live with it."

Lucy laughed loudly. "I like your aunt and uncle, Liz-chan!" she complimented.

I sighed. "They're embarrassing."

Everyone laughed and I sighed again, jumped off of Uncle James lap and sat down next to Keitaro, but then was pulled over by Lucy, then Keitaro pulled me back and soon I ended up next to Miki and my uncle. Even my friends are embarrassing.

Well…I like them that way.

* * *

_**(-Monday Morning-)**_

"Have a good day at school, Lizzy!" My aunt Jenny shouted as I ran towards Jun's car.

"I will!" I shouted back, opening the door to the car and sliding inside where Jun waited with a smile. I smiled back at her and grabbed my seat belt, buckling myself in. And soon, the two of us were heading off towards Seishun Academy.

The dinner I had with my friends last Friday went really well. We had some good laughs, we told stories about my first day at school, Aunt Jenny and Uncle James even told us more about when they were our age and all the stuff they used to do. Well, we had a fun night and surprisingly, Lucy wasn't as hyper as she was earlier that day. Scary, right?

"So did you have a nice weekend?" Jun questioned me.

I nodded and yawned. "Yep, it was interesting."

Then, she smirked. "I heard that Kikumaru-san invited you to the tennis tournament and from a source of mine, I heard you both had a few interesting conversations."

I raised a brow and glanced at her. "And what conversations are we talking about?" I asked her.

Jun shrugged. "I don't know I was hoping you would spill. Didn't work though…" she sighed.

"Of course," I said with a roll of my eyes. "And who is this… 'Source'?"

"Kei-kun,"

"Traitor…"

"That was a good movie." Jun chuckled.

"I am not talking about a movie. I am talking about Keitaro." I said.

"I know, I know," Jun laughed. "Now…get out of my car."

I stuck my tongue out playfully at her, unbuckled my seat belt and stepped out of Jun's car. "Such a nice person you are." I joked.

"You keep that up and I'll cut off that tongue of yours." Jun joked as well. "Now get going, you're going to be late for class."

"Will do." And with that said, I walked off towards the school gate as Jun drove off towards the parking lot.

"Boyer-san!" A voice sang loudly. A small smile formed upon my lips as I turned around to face the owner of the voice, but was suddenly hugged. I stumbled back slightly, only to be caught by a pair of arms. I looked up and blinked. Behind me was another boy, he was about my age. He had some sort of weird hair cut and brown eyes. He looked worriedly at me, and then looked at Eiji.

"**Eiji-san**, please get off of her." He asked the red-head who continued to hug me. Eiji blinked and quickly got off me. He helped me stand up straight and I thanked him in Japanese. He smiled softly back at me. Suddenly, Eiji grabbed onto my arm and dragged me a bit closer to his friend, as I guessed. Eiji spoke in Japanese to his friend, I kind of felt left out for a minute there, since I didn't know what they were talking about. Eiji's friend glanced at me then back at Eiji, before turning his attention towards me and outstretching his arm.

"Hello, I'm Oishi Shuichiro, Eiji-san has told me a lot about you." I blinked in shock. Another person who speaks English? Oh thank you so much Kami-sama!**(Kami-sama=God)**

"**Uh…yes**! Kikumaru-san has never told me anything about you." I said. I blinked when Oishi lightly laughed. Do I look funny…?

I gave him a puzzled look. "May I ask what is so funny?" Oishi shook his head and smiled gently.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." He assured me, so I just shrugged it off.

"**I would like you to meet some friends of mine.**" I heard Eiji speak next to me. I flickered my eyes over and looked at him, only to see him looking at me with a grin that reminded me of a cat somehow.

"Um…Oishi-san, do you mind translating?" I asked Oishi who waved a hand in front of his face and kept on the same smile from before.

"He said: I would like you to meet some friends of mine." He translated. I thanked Oishi and asked if he could tell Eiji I would love to, since I didn't know how to say it in Japanese. Oishi did as I asked; not minding at all, and suddenly the two of us were being dragged off towards the direction of the tennis courts on the school ground.

"He moves fast, doesn't he?" I joked pointing at Eiji.

"Yes." Oishi nodded before speaking to Eiji in Japanese with a slightly concerned voice. Curious I asked:

"Is something wrong?"

Oishi shook his head. "Not really, I just asked Eiji-san to slow down a bit so no one would get hurt."

I nodded and remained silent, letting Eiji drag me into the tennis courts where many boys were currently picking up tennis balls and some were even practicing.

"Shouldn't everyone be getting to class soon?" I asked Oishi.

Oishi gave me a puzzled look this time. "Class doesn't start for another hour."

My face blanked. Does he mean…I'm early?

* * *

**LP8:**I've been lazy...again...and I got new Anime recently...been occupied with that...also!

**Bloodpuppy:**Kinda had writers block on this one, didn't you?

**LP8:**Meh...maybe...Writers clock won't leave me alone :O!

**Both:**We would like to thank: The Elemental Alchemist Reyna, magic126, Silver Wolf Yuki and -LaZy-BuBbLeGuM-BiTcH-, for reviewing, thank you all!

We'll try to update as soon as we can...hopefully.

Please leave a review and we'll get back to you!

Bye-bye!

**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**


	11. Chapter 11: Running Laps

"I can't believe it…I can't believe I'm early." I silently cried to myself as Eiji continued to drag Oishi and I. "I want to go back to sleep…"

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Oishi sweat drop at me as I continued to cry about wanting to go back to sleep. I soon gave up whining -since it would get me no where- and wondered…how did Jun and I look at the clocks wrong? How did that happen? Did all the clocks here like…reset themselves last night?

I turned to Oishi and said:

"Did, um…all the clocks around here reset themselves last night…or something?"

Oishi looked up to the sky as he pondered for a moment.

"Yes…I believe so…" he replied.

"That would explain why I am early." I sighed. Why did the clocks to that? Evil, stupid, ticking clocks.

Oishi chuckled lightly and smiled softly at me as he said:

"But Eiji-san seems glad to see you this early; he's been telling us about you lately, he seems to have taken a liking to you."

I blushed and turned away. "Is that so…? And who is 'us', the people he wants me to meet?"

Oishi nodded. And I blushed again, has he really been talking about me to his friends lately? Why though? I'm just some girl he knows…so what's with him? Did he talk about Miki, too? He had met her the same time we met…so…-

"Oi! Chibi!" Eiji laughed as he dropped Oishi's arm, making the poor guy fall to the ground, although…he should be a bit happy…I was still being dragged as Eiji waved his other arm at some person.

Suddenly, Eiji stopped in his place and pulled me up in front of him, wrapped his arms around my waist and –since he was taller than me- stuck his chin on the top of my head. I sweat dropped, and felt very…weird.

Eiji called out some names in the tennis court and soon enough six boys came cruising towards us. And two of them I recognized. Fuji and that one guy Kawamura Takashi that had first found me when I was lost in school on my first day. The others, though, I did not recognize. I flinched when I felt a presence behind me, but only realized it was Oishi and sighed in relief before turning back to the rest of Eiji's friends.

Eiji started speaking in Japanese, so I gave him a blank look, but watched as he pointed to each one of his friends. Once he was done, each of his friends said something, so I turned towards Oishi giving him a look of help. Oishi lightly chuckled again.

"These are our friends." He started in English before he pointed to the shortest one of the group. "Echizen Ryoma, or as Eiji-san likes to call him: Chibi. And that's Momoshiro Takeshi, Fuji Syusuke, Kawamura Takashi, Inui Sadaharu and Kaidoh Kaoru." He said as he pointed to each on of them, of course I already knew Fuji and Takashi, or Taka as the others liked to call him, I guessed from when first meeting him days ago.

Oishi blinked as he looked around the group and said something in Japanese. The guy with the glasses and spiked hair, Inui, said something back and Oishi nodded.

"Saa," I glanced over at Fuji who walked towards Eiji, Oishi and I. Mainly me. And he still carried the same smile as always. "Looks like we meet again, Boyer-san." He said. The others, minus Taka, all looked confused. And one of them questioned something, but as Oishi told me, Taka explained to them that he and Fuji met me before.

I finally decided to speak up, in Japanese.

"**It's nice to meet you all.**" I said as I bowed slightly to Eiji's friends.

The guy, with the purple eyes grinned walked up to me –I was still in Eiji's arms- and extended his hand, as he said:

"**Likewise**," That meant 'Likewise' in Japanese. …I think…and I hope. I shrugged off my thoughts, freed a hand from Eiji's grasp and extended my hands towards him and smiled as well as we both shook hands.

Fuji smiled and turned towards his friends and said something that I couldn't quite understand. But each of the guys -minus Eiji, Oishi, Fuji, that Ryoma guy and Taka- all looked at me and nodded their heads.

"Mada mada dane," Ryoma sighed. I twitched, what the hell did that mean? Was it some sort of insult? He said it in a bland voice and gave me a strange look. What a weird kid…

"Nya!" Eiji said as he pounced on me. Is holding me not enough? "Kawaii, ne, ne?" he asked the others.

I blushed in embarrassment. Didn't that mean…cute? Oh my gosh…Eiji thought I was cute? Ah…my cheeks…I think they're burning.

"**Oi, Eiji-san, you're killing her…** "Momoshiro spoke. Ah, screw it. I'm calling him Momo for short.

"Eh?" Eiji blinked and looked down at me, before jumping off. Eiji apologized to me, but I said it was fine. In Japanese, of course, and then suddenly Eiji started saying something else to me, leaving me only blinking in confusion at the end.

"Um…what?" I asked.

* * *

_**(-Jun-)**_

Jun smiled happily as she skipped towards the school gate where Elizabeth would be waiting for her. Oh, how she loved that girl so much already, she was like the daughter she always wanted, but could never had, no matter how many times she tried to get pregnant with her husband. Jun slowed down her pace, frowned and glanced down at the ground as she began to slowly walk the rest of the way to the school gate.

For three years she has tried to become pregnant, wanting her own child, but failed. Each and every time, she failed. And soon…just gave up.

And then, she heard from a good friend of hers, Boyer James, that his niece who parents/his brother who passed away recently is coming to live with them, and wished for her to look after his niece while she wasn't with them. Jun became filled with joy when she heard James ask her to treat Boyer Elizabeth as one of her own children. Jun agreed and went to immediately meet, Elizabeth that first night.

"Even though she is not MY child…" Jun whispered to herself.

Suddenly, she clapped her hands and smiled to herself and stopped in her tracks as she said loudly:

"Ah, what does it matter? I will take very good care of her at school and anywhere else her uncle and aunt ask me to for as long as I live! She is already like my own child."

Then, she blinked as she looked at the school gate.

"Where…is she?"

* * *

_**(-Elizabeth-)**_

"Eiji-san asked if you wanted to have lunch with us later today and also asked if you would come watch him practice this time." Oishi replied.

I thought about it for a moment. It wouldn't hurt, plus I owed him since I skipped out on the rest of the matches last Friday. I turned back to Oishi and said:

"Can you tell him that I'll come watch him practice, and if he, you and the others don't mind, I would like to bring some of my friends to eat lunch with us?" I asked.

"Okay," Oishi nodded. "Eiji-san…" and then he gained Eiji's attention. A smiled formed upon my lips as I watched the two talk in the Japanese language I barely knew how to speak expect for some very few sentences. I turned and looked over my shoulder at Eiji's friends, who were all talking amongst themselves. I decided –since Eiji and Oishi were talking for a moment- to go say hi and maybe chat a little with his friends, to get to know them. So, I made my ways towards the group and smiled.

"**Hello, everyone…**" I spoke, gaining their attentions…minus the one guy named Kaidoh, who wore a bandana on his head and Ryoma's.

"O-ohayo…" Taka stuttered and waved shyly.

"Um…" I blinked. I didn't know what to say now.

"**What are your hobbies?**" Momo questioned.

I blinked. Oh my gosh, I think I know what he said! Kami-sama, thank you so much! I knew looking up some Japanese on the internet would come in handy! I'm just never staying up that late ever again…

I smiled at Momo and minute later as I said:

"**Basketball and photography!**" I replied.

"**Will you be joining any clubs?**" I heard Fuji questioned. My right eye twitched, he was screwing with me, wasn't he? Oh, how I'd love to wipe off the sadistic smile he has on right now…

I turned to Fuji and lightly smiled, as I gave him a glare as well.

"**I'm…not sure yet…**" Fuji seemed amused. Now I kind of regret learning some Japanese…damn you Fuji!

Then an angry voice shouted something in Japanese, causing all of the guys to flinch. I blinked my confused hazel eyes. Was something wrong? Was that angry voice directed at them? Who was it anyways…? So, I decided glance around Fuji and watched as some guy walk up to us, with cold eyes. A shiver ran down my spine when he glanced at me, then he glanced back up at the guys and said something again. Eiji, Taka and Momo all sighed while the others just stalked off into the courts, but that Kaidoh guy did make some sort of hissing sound and Ryoma muttered something under his breath.

"Okay…looks like you guys have to get back to practice," I said with a nervous laugh as I started to slowly inch my way towards the school gate and away from Eiji, the scary guy and Oishi. Fuji was long gone by now. "I'll just be going now…" But then, I was suddenly yelled at the guy in Japanese. I turned towards him with a confused look. I didn't learn THAT much Japanese. Just the basic questions.

"**Nya, hurry up, hurry up, Boyer-san!**" Eiji shouted as he grabbed my hand and rushed off into the courts.

"Wha!" I shouted.

Soon we were both in a tennis court, running laps.

"Why am I running laps?" I asked loudly. Fuji chuckled and I glared at him. His sadistic smile was STILL there.

"Saa, you interrupted tennis practice, so Tezuka-buchou is making you run laps along with us." Fuji replied.

My mouth hung open as I said:

"But, Kikumaru-san brought me here! So it's technically not my fault…" I then sighed. "No point in complaining, is there?" Fuji chuckled and continued to jog. I glared at the back of his head again. "That wasn't a real answer…damn you…"

* * *

_**(-Jun-)**_

"Oi, you bastard! Get back here!"

"Aaah! Philips-san is going to eat me!"

Two, familiar sounding, voices both shouted, making Jun turn her heel and look at three students from Seigaku walking down the side walk towards the school gate where Jun stayed at, hoping Elizabeth probably just ran to the bathroom and would come out to meet her soon…

So far not so good, though.

But, Jun's face did light up when she recognized the voices of the three students that Elizabeth has been hanging out with lately. Amu Miki, Fujiwaka Keitaro and Philips Lucy –and Jun laughed when she saw Lucy chasing Keitaro around. Miki sighed irritably.

"Good morning, you three." Jun knew there was no need to speak Japanese to the three. They all new English and have been speaking it a lot more lately, since they met Elizabeth. It's like they almost forgot that they could speak Japanese amongst themselves.

Miki waved at Jun and nodded her head, but kept silent and sighed again as Keitaro raced passed her and hid behind Jun who chuckled at the shaking Keitaro and the fuming Lucy.

"How are you three this fine morning?" Jun asked.

"Annoyed…" Miki muttered using her index finger to push up her glasses that had fell halfway down her face.

"Scared…" Keitaro shuddered.

"Happy!" Lucy grinned.

Keitaro and Miki blinked and gave Lucy a blank expression. Jun nervously laughed and inched back slowly with Keitaro.

"You looked quite mad just a moment ago, Philips-san." Miki stated bluntly.

"I was just messing around with Kei-chan. And call me Lu-chan, god damn you!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Oi, why have you never told me to call you 'Lu-chan'?" Keitaro questioned Lucy as he crossed his arms.

"Because I hate you," Lucy said.

"Such a mean little girl…" Keitaro muttered.

Lucy twitched.

"I'll tell Liz-chan on you!" she threatened.

Keitaro laughed. "What's she going to do? She'll protect me! I know it; I was the first one who met her so I'm her favorite!"

This time Miki twitched. Lucy and Keitaro shuddered and stepped back from Miki slowly when they saw the look she gave them both.

"Excuse me?" she asked in a deadly tone.

Jun nervously laughed again as she stepped beside Miki and the other two, saying:

"Come now, come now. You are all her friends; she doesn't have a favorite since she likes you all equally."

Each of the three sighed and nodded their heads, knowing Jun was right.

"Why isn't my good buddies! Nice to see you all again!"

Miki, Lucy and Keitaro all twitched at the same time as they recognized the voice. Kihara Shinji. The boy that Elizabeth befriended last Friday at the tennis tournament, and her hogged her most of the time.

Jun blinked. She didn't know this friend of Elizabeth's, but she has seen him around the school. Supposedly, he was a second year.

"Is this…another one of Elizabeth's friends?" Jun asked the three who stared at Shinji with displeased looks, before the three of them nodded their heads. Jun happily and clapped her hands.

"Oh wow! She has this many friends already and this is only her second day going to this school! Feels like she's been her a while though, huh, kids?" Jun asked the four.

"**Yes**…" Lucy muttered as she continued to glare at Shinji.

Jun nervously laughed again, before saying:

"Um…let's go find Elizabeth, shall we?"

* * *

**LP8:** …Not the best chapter so far…still have writers block somewhat –**Bloodpuppy** is a bitch, just thought I would add that in-, and I don't blame you if you all didn't like this chapter much. Plus…my cat keeps staring at me and its distracting me…_-Looks over at her cat who continues to stare at her-_ That cat needs to go on some meds…

**Bloodpuppy:**O.O Your cat is freaking me out… And hey…how am I a bitch?

**LP8:**I know… _-Ignores the bitch question-_

_-Both then look at LP8's cat who continues to stare at LP8-_

**Both:**...Uh…we would like to thank: **-LaZy-BuBbLeGuM-BiTcH-, magic126, mewmewlover23 and The Elemental Alchemist Reyna**, for reviewing. THANK YOOOU!

We'll try to update again soon…key word: Try!

Please leave a review on your way out, and have a nice day/night.

Bye-bye!

**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy.**


	12. Chapter 12: Lucky Charm!

My breathing became heavy as the more laps we ran. I never had to run this much in my life… I'm not exactly out of shape or anything I'm skinny, with some baby fat here and there. But the thing is… I've never done any sports or anything after practically living a life of solitude in my house, reading books, helping my mom in the garden thirty minutes a day… Running laps is… Very tiring.

I collapsed to the ground next to everyone who seemed to be barely affected by all those laps. Well of course, they do play tennis. I bet they do this every day. They've got to be used to it now.

Oh, and note to self: Never let Eiji bring me to tennis practice ever again!

"**Nya, Boyer-san, are you okay?**" Eiji asked as he held out a helping hand, with that playful grin playing upon his lips again.

I nodded replying with a '**Yes**' and as I reached out to grab Eiji's hand… Everything around me began to fade and soon it became dark…

* * *

_**(-)**_

_"Mommy… Daddy!"_

_"What is it, Elizabeth?"_

_"Why can't I go to school with the other kids? …"_

_"…"_

_"Elizabeth, have you been a good girl?"_

_"Yes, daddy! I've been a very good girl!"_

_"Then I believe you deserve a piece of candy."_

_"Yay!"_

_"Elizabeth, do you want to help me in the garden today?"_

_"Sure, mother!"_

_"Mom! Have you seen my shirt?"_

_"Which shirt?"_

_"The white one,"_

_"In you top dresser."_

_"Okay, thanks!"_

_"You're leaving again?"_

_"Sorry, honey, it's business that your mother and I have to tend to…"_

_"…"_

_"Elizabeth Boyer?"_

_"Yes?"_

_"I have some bad news. It's about your parents. They… Have been in a car accident… I'm sorry, but…"_

_"…They… didn't make, did they?"_

_"…I'm terribly sorry for your lose."_

_"…"_

* * *

_**(-)**_

The memories of my parents flooded my mind… I couldn't seem to get them to leave… To disappear. I did not want to remember. I wanted to forget, I wanted to forget everything that had happened. I wanted to move on, move on with the new life I have with Aunt Jenny and Uncle James, and my friends as well. I wanted to forget my old life in Georgia. I wanted to forget the pain, the sadness, the tragic stuff that happened there.

But, the memories continued on. They wouldn't leave no matter how many times I cried and screamed for them to go away. Even though, I no longer wanted any memory of it… I knew it would never leave me fully. I may forget in time… But deep inside my heart and in the back of my mind, the memories will always be there…

The sounds of my name from many familiar voices flooded through my mind. The dark place I was in suddenly became filled with bright light, like… it was helping me find my way out of my own mind. Out of the slumber I was in.

_"Boyer-san, nya!"_ That voice… Was that Eiji? He sounds worried. _"Boyer-saaaaan!"_ I… I want to go to Eiji; I want to tell him everything is fine. I don't like hearing the worry in his voice.

I followed the sound of Eiji's and some other familiar voices. The bright place I was in seem to never end, but I just kept on following Eiji's voice, as he continued to call out my name.

I eventually fell to the ground in tears. I wanted to get out of here, I wanted to see Eiji's smile again. I wanted to wake up! I want to see Miki, Keitaro and Lucy again! I want to see all of them! I want to wake up… Just wake up!

Please, let me wake up…

_"Boyer-san~!"_

I bolted straight up.

My hands shook, my eyes were wide. My nose was stuffed, and I felt water prickle down my face. I was crying. I was crying like I was in that one place, the place where the memories haunted me. I never wanted to go back there again. I am never going to run laps, again!

"Liz-chan~!" Two voices shrieked my nickname and I was pulled into a very tight hug by four arms.

I blinked, and looked around. Everyone: Jun, Miki, Ryoma, Tezuka, Oishi, Momo, and Taka, and Inui, Fuji, Shinji and Kaidoh, all of them stood around me, while Keitaro and Lucy practically hugged me to death. Soon, enough Oishi told the two something I couldn't understand, and they jumped off of me.

"Are you okay?" Oishi questioned as he looked over at me.

I nodded. "Yes, sorry for making you all worry…" Then I blinked again when I noticed a person missing. "Um… Where is Kikumaru-san?" I asked.

"Saa, he said something about going to his locker…" Fuji mumbled.

I gasped. The word 'locker' reminded me of something.

"School!" I shrieked. "We're gonna be late!"

"Boyer-san, class doesn't start for another ten minutes." Oishi assured me as he tried to pry my hands off the collar of his school uniform.

I breathed and relaxed slightly.

"Lizzy," The concerned voice of Jun caught my attention. "May I ask what had happened?"

I rubbed my temples and made a humming sound as I tried to think back. I know that I fainted… Oh!

"I interrupted tennis practice, so, um… captain guy over there." That's when I pointed to Tezuka. "He got angry and told us all to run laps…"

"All of you?" Miki questioned. I nodded.

"Can't blame him. I DID interrupt tennis practice." I then turned towards to Tezuka with an apologetic look. "Sorry about that…"

Tezuka just seemed to… Wave it off.

Suddenly, the door to the nurse's office- which we all were currently in; I guess they dragged me here when I fainted…- slammed open and a heavy breathing Eiji came staggering into the room. And he immediately ran to me a moment later. I'm guessing he saw I was awake…

"Ne ne, Boyer-san!" He exclaimed.

"Eh…" I blinked and tried to think of the Japanese word for 'what'. Suddenly, I felt a nudge in my side. I glanced over to my left and looked at Miki who mouthed the word: Nani. …I think… Meh might as well give it a try. He gives me a strange look then I know I got it wrong.

I turned back to Eiji and said:

"Nani?"

I watched as Eiji pulled something out of his pocket, then he practically shoved it in my face. I blinked as I came face to face with… A cat keychain?

"**It's a good luck charm of mine; it will keep you healthy and safe!**" Eiji spoke.

I turned to the English speakers in the room: Jun, Miki, Keitaro, Shinji, Lucy, Fuji and Oishi. That also made me wonder if any of the other in the room knew English?

"Saa, he said: It's a good luck charm of mine; it will keep you healthy and safe!" Fuji repeated to me. I blinked again. Eiji… Was giving me his good luck charm, just because of the small incident earlier?

"Ah, Kikumaru-san-…" I wasn't able to finish what I was about to say, when Eiji glanced at Fuji-who pointed to the clock in the nurse's office- and shouted:

"**Oh no! We're going to be late for class!**" And then, Eiji shoved the charm into my hands, and slightly tugged on my hand saying something else in Japanese.

Jun chuckled as she put her hand lightly on Eiji's shoulder, gaining his attention. Jun then started speaking to Eiji, which I could not understand. Eiji said something back and grinned at me, once again speaking in Japanese.

I titled my head to the side and gave him a confused look.

"Lizzy, you'll be staying here for a while longer. Kikumaru-san said he'll come by later." Jun explained to me.

"Oh…" I mumbled nodding my head slightly.

Soon enough, Eiji and his friends/my friends all began to walk out the room waving at me. I waved back at them and sighed. Jun said she had to go drop something off real quick so I lied back down and looked up at the ceiling.

"I want to go to class…" I muttered to myself. I was perfectly fine now. So why couldn't I go to class? And yes, I would rather be in class right now instead of lying in bed…

…Maybe something is wrong with me…

"I'd rather skip class than go. But, that's what I think." The familiar voice of Lucy echoed through my ears. I blinked my hazel eyes and slowly sat up until I was faced to face with Lucy who leaned against a wall across from me.

"I thought you left with the others…" I spoke.

"I thought you'd like some company other than Naoki-san." Lucy replied with a calm voice.

"Oh, um, thanks then…" I mumbled.

Lucy only nodded her head. And then the room became silent.

"…"

"…"

"…"

That was practically the conversation going on between Lucy and me at the moment…

"So…" Lucy mumbled. "I grew up in Vancouver, Canada with my older brother, Bob, my mother Jenna and father David. When I was five years old my cousin Haley came to live with us after some… Family problems with her family. I grew really, really close to Haley. She understood me, not like anyone else. She was my only friend back then… But, when I was eight years old Haley was diagnosed with Cancer." Lucy stopped for a moment as she lowered her head to the ground and clenched the skirt of her uniform.

"You don't have to-…" I started, but Lucy only continued.

"Haley, she had a very weak body. So a month later she passed away in the hospital. On my birthday… We were gonna have cake together and she said she had a present for me. I was so excited to have cake with her and to see what she got me. I wanted HER to give me the present, not the nurse…" I swore I saw a few tears leak out of Lucy's eyes as she clenched them shut tight. "I wanted to see… Haley's smile one more time… Just one more time…" Lucy then lifted her right hand and clenched onto one of her necklaces.

"Lucy…" I mumbled softly.

Lucy let out a sob. "I'm sorry… I'm sure you didn't care about anything I just said right now, but, when you fainted at the tennis courts today I ran to your side and I heard you mumble your parents name and said that you didn't want them to go. I just… I just wanted you to know that you're not the only one of your friends who has lost… Someone dear to them!"

I lowered my head slightly and clenched the blanket that was put over me. I then lifted my feet off the bed until they touched the cold ground. I stood and slowly made my way to Lucy who was now on the ground crying. I stood in front of her, bent down and wrapped my arms around her tightly. A small gasp escaped her lips so I knew she was surprised by my sudden movement. I patted and rubbed Lucy's back just like how my mother or father would when I cried.

"It's painful to talk about memories like that, huh?" I asked in a whisper.

Lucy only nodded and whispered back a: I'm sorry.

"It's okay." I lightly smiled a very weak smile. "It's okay… I'm kind of glad you shared that story with me. I guess you heard from someone about my parent's right?" I barely could hold myself together, I was about to cry just like Lucy…

Lucy nodded again into my chest. "Mi-chan told me."

"Mi-chan?"

"Miki…"

"Oh, right."

And then, I cried while holding onto the charm Eiji had given me...

* * *

**LP8: **Sorry for the late update and short chapter full of non-sense and stuff. I'm gonna get back to what I've meant to be writing in the next chapter... If I can remember what it was! Anyway, I've been very lazy… Again. Don't know why, just have. Sorry for the sucky chapter… Again. Had more writer's block, yada, yada, ya! It just doesn't want to leave me alone, lol.

**Bloodpuppy:**So that's why you kept asking me questions!

**LP8:** About wha?

**Bloodpuppy:** About… I forgot. Never mind!

**LP8:**_-Sweat drops-_

Anyway, we would like to thank: **-LaZy-BuBbLeGuM-BiTcH-, kitsune light and magic126**, for reviewing. Thank you!

Please leave a review on your way out!

Until next time…

Bye-bye!

_**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**_


	13. Chapter 13: The What!

Lucy sniffed one last time before I released her from the hug. Her small hands still clenched onto the back of my shirt, and she made eye contact with the ground with a slight blush creeping up upon her cheeks.

"I just cried in front of a person. Wonderful," I heard her mutter. I laughed softly and patted her head. She so reminded me like a small, cute child right now.

"You're lucky that you are my best friend. Otherwise, right now, I would kill you for treating me like a child." Lucy said in a dark tone of voice.

I nervously laughed and pulled my back my hand. "Right, sorry."

Lucy slowly lifted her head and gave me the creepiest smile I had ever seen, and hopefully the last.

"But if you do tell anyone that I cried then I will not hold back from stabbing you multiple times with a very sharp knife."

"Uh, yeah, I won't tell anyone…"

And after that was said, Jun walked in with a questioning expression as she looked at the two of us.

"Philips-san, didn't you go to class?" She asked Lucy.

"Uhm, well, I was going to, but then I thought that Liz-chan might want some more company." Lucy replied.

Jun sweetly smiled at Lucy. "That's very nice of you, but I don't want you missing out on learning now. So please, go to class. I'll be letting Elizabeth out around lunch, so come for her then and do whatever you want." Jun said.

Lucy grinned and jumped from her spot. "Okie dokie!" She started to walk out of the room, past Jun, but then stopped and turned to me with a devilish grin. "I'll be back with the others around lunch, Liz-chan!" And with that said, Lucy walked out of the room.

I dully stared at the door that Jun closed behind her a moment later. "She acts like I'm so sort of toy…" I said.

"That's Philips-san, for you." Jun laughed.

I twitched. My misery must be her enjoyment. Damn school nurse.

"Now get back to bed!"

"Y-yes ma'am,"

* * *

Once lunch came rolling around, Lucy came back like she said she would and she brought Miki and Keitaro with her. Shinji also came along with the three, much to their dismay. Yes, I just figured out that my three friends despised Shinji. But the reason for it I am still clueless about.

Anyway, first we thought we would search for Eiji and his friends at first, but couldn't find any of them and so the four of them dragged me to the roof top and the five of us ate a nice lunch there. Although, there was constant screaming coming from Lucy and Keitaro…And Shinji kept hugging me. He even tried to feed me my own lunch. Of course, Miki stopped him, but she would not stop Lucy and Keitaro, saying she got laughter out of the two of them. But, so far, I didn't see her laugh. Not even once.

I went to the rest of my classes and I even saw Eiji a few times. It seemed like he was trying to talk to me, but a couple of guys or girls would come up to him, so I didn't really get to see him.

Now it was after school and I was dragged off by Shinji to go watch the Regulars. And that meant I was able to see Eiji and all the others. Oh, and Miki, Keitaro and Lucy came along too.

"What the hell is with all the people holding cameras?" I heard Lucy ask in a dull tone of voice.

"They're scouting." Shinji replied.

"Scouting for what?" I asked.

"I don't really know myself, but I know they are from different schools. I think it was something to do with the tennis team." Shinji said.

"Hm..." I mumbled.

"Stop pushing me!"

"Make me, Kei-kei!"

"Do not call me that you little… PERSON!"

"I AM NOT LITTLE DAMMIT!"

Miki sighed, Shinji laughed and smiled, and I just simply shrugged my shoulders and slightly smiled. I swear I have some of the weirdest friends ever.

"**Whaaa!** **My camera!** " Someone shouted. I glanced over in some bushes and saw two people running off. I blinked and scratched my forehead. I was a bit confused by what they had said. I seriously need to learn Japanese… And fast.

"Boyer-san!"

"Kikumaru-san," I greeted the familiar sounding voice. Of course, Fuji was here too, and I greeted him as well. The two both smiled and walked up to me and my friends. I grinned and pointed to the water fountain behind the two.

"Did you spray water on that one guy with the camera, Fuji?" I questioned him.

Fuji titled his head to the side with the same old creepy smile. "What makes you think that, Boyer-san?" I then noticed something. Lucy had the same, creepy smile on earlier. Oh, wow… Double creepy.

I chuckled lightly and rubbed the back of my head.

"Ne, Boyer-san." Eiji poked me in my side, so I faced him.

"Yes, Kikumaru-san?" I questioned.

Eiji's faced scrunched up and he pouted. "**Nya, call me by my first name.**" He said, as he poked my side once again. Since, I had no idea what Eiji said, I turned towards my friends with a questioning and pleading expression playing across my face.

"He said he wanted you to call him by his first name." Lucy said in a blunt tone, crossing her arms.

"Thanks, Lucy." I then turned back to Eiji. But only to catch myself. I had absolutely no idea how to say anything back to him in Japanese, so I then turned to Fuji.

"Uhm,"

"Yes, I'll tell him." Fuji nodded, interrupting me. I nodded my head as well, and told him what to say to Eiji. Fuji once again nodded his head and turned to Eiji, speaking to him. Eiji smiled happily and grabbed me in a hug.

"**Agreed!**" He said.

"Uh, yeah…" I mumbled.

Eiji soon released me from his grip and asked me-translated by Miki this time- If I was going to go watch him practice. As I was about to agree, a small, delicate sounding voice spoke up from behind me.

"**Uhm, excuse me. You're the new student, right?**"

Lucy and Keitaro grabbed me by my shoulders and turned me around to face a, somewhat, familiar looking girl. She had bright blonde hair that cascaded down to her waist in a French braid and bright blue eyes. Then it clicked and I snapped my fingers, saying:

"Ah! You're that girl that those twin siblings were calling Akito in class on my first day." I said.

Akito blushed and lowered her head. "**Y-Yes**,"

"Eh?" Lucy gasped and pointed her finger at Akito. "She can understand English?"

Miki nodded her head as she pushed up her glasses with her index finger. "Yes, her mother is American and her father is Japanese. She takes after her mother more than her father. Minamino-san is very fluent in English, because of her mother." She stated.

"Liz-chan really does have good luck." Keitaro muttered.

"How so?" Fuji questioned the red-head.

"She's always meeting people that know English. Well, most of the time." Keitaro glanced at Eiji, before looking back at me and Akito.

Akito's face became even redder and she fidgeted with her fingers. She tried her best to make eye contact with me, but failed. The one thought that came to my mind was that she reminded me of a glass doll. She looked like she was about to break any moment.

"M-may I speak with you for a moment?" She asked in a low quiet voice. I tapped my chin with my index finger and thought for a moment. I would have to turn her down for now and ask if we could talk later. I was going to go watch Eiji practice and I was actually looking forward to seeing everyone again. But, before I could say anything, Akito grabbed my hand and rushed off with fast feet, dragging me behind her.

"Whaaa!" I yelped.

"Lizzy-chan~!" I turned my head to see a sad looking Eiji watching as I was dragged away. I bowed my head ashamed. I just figured that whenever I get to see Eiji or Fuji, I always get dragged away by something or someone. Why does this always happen?

Suddenly, the two of us stopped running near some sort of shed. Akito collapsed to the ground and breathed heavily. I collapsed right next to her, feeling as if I was going to faint again.

"I'm… I'm so sorry." Akito apologized.

"It's okay." I said back. I stood from the ground and held out a hand to Akito, who seemed very hesitant to take it, but soon did so and I helped her up. Akito brushed off her uniform and turned towards the shed, walking towards the door. I stayed where I stood, making Akito look back at me.

"Are… Are you coming?" She asked me.

"Uhm, can I ask what we're supposed to be going in there for?" I questioned, pointing to the shed. The creepy looking shed. VERY creepy looking shed.

"My friends and I would like to ask you something, so please, come in. This is where we hang out sometimes during break or after school while waiting for practice to start." Akito explained.

"Practice…?" I mumbled to myself. I sighed and began to follow Akito in.

"My friends don't speak English, so I'll be the translator." Akito then said. I only nodded my head as the two of us entered the shed. It was dark and damp, but I just ignored it and followed Akito around some boxes here and there, and on the other side of the shed, was a bunch of girls from my school. And one of them was the twins that I saw arguing on my first day of school. I believe her name was… Naomi.

One of them started to speak to Akito, frightening me a bit. The one who spoke was pointing at me and looking at Akito. She had ravened black hair and honey brown eyes, she also wore the boys uniform.

"Hai, Mikoto-chan," Akito nodded. And then others started to talk to Akito, and I took the chance to look them all over. There was Naomi, Mikoto, a girl with light brown hair that went to her shoulders and black eyes, another girl with dark brown hair that was held in a low pony tail, with a purple streak hanging down above her left eye, and she had dark, almost black eyes, and then there was a girl in the back with rectangular shaped glasses and—

"Boyer-san, will you join, please?" Akito's voice snapped me out from my daze of looking everyone over. I blinked and turned towards Akito, tilting my head to the side slightly.

"Join what?" I asked.

"The girls basketball team. Please?" Akito clasped her hands together and lowered her head slightly, whispering 'Please, please, please' over and over again. I sweat dropped and pointed to myself.

"I'm not very good with sports. I kind of faint easily when I do activities like that." I said.

The girl with the purple streak spoke up, pointing to me, but looking at Akito. Akito gasped and happily clapped her hands together.

"**You are a genius, Emiko-chan!**" Akito praised this 'Emiko' girl. Then, she looked at me.

"We'll make you practice so much that you'll be used to it and you won't faint! Might take a while, but at least we can get some practice done before the next big game," Akito stated.

I smacked my forehead.

"May I ask why you want me to join?" I asked in a mutter.

"Because no other girl in the school wants to join. Please, you have to join! We beg of you." Akito pleaded and dropped to her knees. I blinked my eyes rapidly at her, and then I told her to get up and sighed.

"Well, what kind of position would I be?" I then asked as Akito dusted herself off.

"We want you to be the Center."

"You want me to be the what?"

* * *

_**(-?-)**_

"Ooooh, the Center." Lucy grinned as she leaned on the wall next to the open shed window, listening to the conversation.

"Well, she doesn't really have to do that much, but she's not very tall or big. Their primary jobs are to get rebounds and score points when close the basket. They are rarely expected to dribble the ball much nor shoot from more than 15 feet away. Some centers are very dominant at scoring from in close while many others only score a handful of points per game. The best players at blocking shots on defense are often centers." Miki said.

"I didn't even know we had a basketball team here. I thought this school was centered on tennis." Keitaro chimed in.

"The girls basketball team here is not very well known." Miki said. "It was only created a half a year ago. They hadn't had many games, and it seems their old Center player quit the basketball team and went to play tennis instead."

"Harsh," Shinji mumbled.

Lucy crossed her arms. "Well, it doesn't seem like Liz-chan really wants to join…" She said.

"We should go get her!" Keitaro exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Lucy and Keitaro then high-fived each other while grinning like maniacs.

Miki sighed. "I believe you two are a little too late for that." She then pointed her index finger to the shed door, causing the two to look over at it and watched as I walked out. Those idiots… Did they forget the window was open?

"Aw, we didn't have to go get her after all." Keitaro pouted.

"And I was looking forward to being a **ninja**." Lucy also pouted.

Keitaro looked at Lucy.

"**Ninja?**"

"Yes, a **ninja**, dammit!"

"I suppose you knew we were hear all along, am I correct?" Miki spoke, as she suddenly appeared next to me.

"Yes, yes I did. Mainly because Lu-chan and Kei-kun were being very loud," I commented.

"We were not!" The two of them argued causing me to giggle lightly and Miki shake her head at them.

"So, Boyer-san, what did you tell them?" Miki questioned me a moment later.

"I told them I would think long and hard about it." I replied.

Miki nodded.

"Boyer-san~!" Shinji squealed my name as he grabbed me in a hug and nuzzled my neck. Wait, what the hell? "Don't worry; I won't let those bad girls take you away from me." I blinked. They were going to take me somewhere? I thought they just wanted me to join their team…

"Don't touch her, she's mine!" Lucy growled as she grabbed me by my arm and dragged me away from Shinji.

"Aw, does Lucy-chan want some love too."

I watched as Shinji grabbed Lucy in a hug and then suddenly get beaten into a bloody pulp by Lucy herself. Once Lucy was done she brushed off her hands with a satisfied look.

"So cute, Lucy-chan~!" Shinji smiled, standing next to the small pink haired girl.

"YOU ARE NOT HUMAN! NOW GET ON THE GROUND AND PLAY DEAD!"

I sweat dropped, but laughed at the scene before me. "Lucy, stop hurting Kihara-kun and let's go to the tennis court. I should probably apologize to Kikumaru- I mean Eiji-kun and Fuji-kun for just leaving all of a sudden." I said.

"HAI!" Lucy loudly yelled as she grabbed me by my arm again and started to drag me off towards the tennis courts. The others soon followed after us.

* * *

_**(-20 Minutes Later-)**_

"I told you to let me lead the way, you idiot!"

"No way! I'm the leader here so you follow ME! I know where I am going!"

"No you don't! This is the tenth time you've lead us to the GIRL'S tennis court when the BOY'S is right over THERE!"

"Shut up! I know where it is, dammit!"

"THEN WHY DON'T YOU WALK OVER THERE! IT'S RIGHT OVER THERE YOU SHORT PERSON!"

"I'MMA EAT YOU IF YOU DON'T SHUT THE HELL UP! RAWR!"

Keitaro then screamed like a little girl and hid behind Miki and me. "Liz-chan, Miki-chan, save me!"

Rubbing the back of my head, I chuckled lightly. Miki groaned and rubbed her temples in frustration.

"Would. You. Two. Just. Shut. Up." Miki hissed in a dark tone. Lucy and Keitaro held to each other, shuddering. Shinji kept on smiling and I… I backed up a little.

"So scary," I heard the two whisper.

Miki crossed her arms and started to make her way to the boy's tennis court. I followed her, with Shinji and soon enough Lucy and Keitaro right behind me. "Hey look! There is a person on the ground! Awesome~!" And the next thing we all knew, Lucy was heading towards where three people stood around a guy on the ground. Two were girls and one was a boy.

"I say we take this chance to get the hell out of here!" Keitaro exclaimed. "We can go live in a cave, away from that… Thing! It'd be heaven." Keitaro's eyes went from determined, to dreamy. I laughed, smacked him lightly on the head and then started to head over to where Lucy was.

"C'mon, Keitaro," I said.

"But, Liz-chan!"

"No buts,"

"Dammit…"

I laughed again.

"**Who is this guy?**" After hearing that, I looked straight ahead with a curious expression. The one who had spoken was the guy that looked oddly familiar to me.

I looked down at the ground where some weird looking guy was laying, with… swirls in his eyes? What the hell…? Uhm, you know what, never mind. Anyway, I crouched along with Lucy next to the oddly familiar looking boy who couched down next to us and looked at the unconscious guy. Kind of confusing, right? Well, it is for me.

A girl with pig tails bent down and grabbed the unconscious guy's bag, mumbling something under her breath that I couldn't quite hear.

"**Wha...What should we do? Quick, bring him to the health office!**" The second girl with long twin braids frantically said.

Then suddenly, the oddly familiar looking boy stood up, grabbed his things and started to walk off, saying: "**Why should I care?**" And the two girls in front of me looked dumbfounded.

Then, it completely hit me. "Was that Echizen Ryoma?"

Everyone stared at me.

I blinked. "What?"

* * *

**Lily:**Yes, we haven't updated in so long. And we're really sorry, but life has been…Life. And a few days ago I caught a cold and was bed ridden, but now that I am almost over with my cold I can finally get on the computer again and the first thing I thought was: STORY!

**Bloodpuppy**: _-Is wearing a mask-_You sleep too much when you're sick.

**Lily:** _-Ignores Bloodpuppy-_We both would like to thank: **Princess-Lazy-Chan, magic126 and Kuro Neko to Kuro Bara.**Thank you all for reviewing!

Please leave a review on the way out!

Until next time everyone…

Bye-bye!

_**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**_


	14. Chapter 14: Surprises

"**What are you to Ryoma-sama?**"The girl with pig tails, whose name I learned was Osakada Tomoka.

"Okay, for the last time, I do not know what you are saying." I said in a calm, but slightly irritated voice.

Only about ten minutes ago did the incident happen with that guy on the ground, who in fact was still on the ground next to me. I was tied up by Tomoka who started to shout at me in Japanese. And my dear friends decided that this was funny and wouldn't tell me what she was saying. Meanwhile, Tomoka's friend whose name I also learned was Ryuzaki Sakuno was just standing behind Tomoka with a worried look.

"**Tell me!**" Tomoka growled.

I sweat dropped and tried to free my hands from the rope she tied me with. "I don't know what you're talking about!" I said again.

Tomoka mumbled something under her breath and crossed her arms. The she raised her voice a little and faced Sakuno who was waving her hands in front of her with the same old worried look. Tomoka smirked and continued to speak to Sakuno, who seemed to disagree.

"Ne, ne, Liz-chan…?" Keitaro whispered into my ear.

"Hm, what?"

"Osakada-san just wants to know what you are to Echizen-san." He said.

"Oh," I nodded. "Thanks,"

Keitaro nodded. "And I'm guessing you would like me to tell Osakada-san that you are nothing to Echizen-san, right?"

"Yes please…"

Keitaro chuckled, patted my head, and then tapped Tomoka's shoulder to gain her attention. Tomoka and Sakuno both blinked. They turned to face Keitaro who then explained to them that I just only met Ryoma a while ago, and that I meant nothing to him. Tomoka looked relieved when she heard this, but at the same time she still looked a little uncertain, like she though Keitaro was lying.

"**Really?**" She questioned.

"**Really, really,**" Keitaro nodded.

"**See?**" Sakuno said, lightly placing her petite hand on Tomoka's shoulder.

Tomoka sighed. "**Yes,**"

I felt like my brain was about to explode and that the circulation in my hands were being cut off. I needed these ropes off, but—oh no. Tomoka! Sakuno! Don't leave until you untie me, please! These jerk friends of mine would leave me tied up for their amusement. Ah…they're walking away. Nooo!

"Osakada-san, Ryuzaki-san! Please, untie me!" I called out for them. Both of them stopped in their tracks when they heard their names. I'm sure they didn't hear anything else I said, but that's okay. Just as long as they come back and untie me.

Both girls turned around with puzzled expressions plastered on their face.

The rest of my friends laughed expect for Miki who only pointed to my hands.

"Oh!"

* * *

I rubbed my wrists that now had rope burns on them. It felt so good to have them free. Sakuno apologized for her and Tomoka, but I told her that is was all right. I was also introduced to them by Miki. The two of them even stayed and talked to me for a little bit! I was so happy~! Well, that was until Sakuno got into trouble for skipping out on tennis practice.

"Ne…" Lucy muttered as she watched Sakuno and Tomoka walk off. "What should we do now? Go home?"

"I do have a lot of homework." Keitaro added.

"I do too!" Lucy said. "And I have to baby sit Ava, Hannah and Jazalynn, Stephen, Roy, Erin and Holly, and Keisuke, while my parents and Naoya and Mari get to go out." Lucy pouted and crossed her arms. Shinji, Keitaro and I all blinked.

"How many siblings do you have?" Keitaro asked.

"Uhm," Lucy hummed. "I have…"

"**Little sister…**" Lucy snapped her head and shifted her body around with a huge smile and faced a pale looking boy perched up on his bike.

"**Big brother!**" She happily squealed as she ran up to the boy and gave him a hug. Well, an awkward looking hug since he was still sitting on his bike.

"Who is that?" I asked Miki in a light whisper.

"That's Philips-san's older brother, Philips Ayame." Miki whispered back.

I blinked. "But, they don't like one bit a like." It was true. Ayame was paler than Lucy, and he had black hair that went a little past his chin. He also had complete different facial features than Lucy. Maybe he took after his mom or dad?

"That's Philips-san's adoptive brother." Miki said, pulling out a small notepad and looking into it. "Philips-san only has three siblings that share the same blood. The rest of Philips-san's siblings are adopted by her parents." Miki then closed the notepad and stuck it back in her book bag.

"Oh wow…" I breathed.

"**Are you going home?**" I looked back over to Ayame and Lucy who were speaking to each other. Lucy replied to her brother with a '**yes**' and the same happy smile was plastered on her lips.

"Is Lu-chan really close to her family?" I asked a moment later.

"Yes," Miki mumbled. "Very close."

I said no more and looked back at Lucy and Ayame. Ayame's facial expression did not change. In fact, he looked kind of…depressed. Was something happening with him and his family? Maybe friends?

"I don't remember Philips-san mentioning about any of her siblings going to the same school…" Keitaro spoke aloud, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"You never brought it up." Shinji smiled.

Keitaro twitched. "I wasn't asking for YOUR opinion." He said quite coldly. He crossed his arms and turned away from Shinji. Shinji rubbed the back of his head with his free hand.

"Ouch," Even though Shinji said that, he still smiled.

"Kei-kun, can you please be nicer to Shinji?" I pointed to my black haired friend. "He is our friend, after all." Why do they hate him so much? I wonder if I'll ever find out.

Keitaro only sighed and kept his mouth shut. I laughed nervously before sighing myself and facing Lucy and her brother once again. The two were still talking. Lucy was laughing and smiling, but Ayame STILL had the same expression. Blank. That's all he showed. Blankness, like life didn't even exist in him. That's when I noticed the weird hat he had on. It was a dark green that looked like there were cat ears sticking up on each side. And there was a design on the middle of it: It looked like a cat head…skull thingy. And it had a couple of bones crossing it, like a pirate's flag.

"**Ok,** **hop on.**" Ayame said to his sister.

Lucy nodded her head and jumped onto the pegs that were on the back of the bike. She placed both of her small hands on his shoulders and looked at the rest of us.

"Oi, I'm gonna go head home now. Cya all tomorrow!" And with that said, Lucy and Ayame quickly left.

"Yeah, I should head home too, before my mom has a cow and thinks I was in some sort of accident." Keitaro said, rolling his eyes but grinned. We all exchanged goodbyes with him as he left around the corner.

"I think my sister wants me back home too. It is my turn to clean the bathroom." Shinji said.

"You seemed too happy when you said that…" I said as well. Shinji chuckled, gave me a hug goodbye before leaving around the other corner.

It was then just Miki and I. And soon maybe Jun, if she would ever came out of the school. Although, I think I might just walk home, but I would need to tell her first so she won't get worried if she couldn't find me anywhere. So, waiting is the best/only option I have right now, huh?

I leaned back against the brick wall and closed my eyes. After all the strange events happening today, I was really tired. And I had some things to think over. Like, joining the basketball team. …I'm…still not sure if I should. I mean, they want me to be the center. I used to watch basketball games with my dad all the time, so I know every position and how everything works. But really? The center? I would feel kind of bad if I turned the offer down…But, I just don't know if I can make it. I don't want to let them down…And having to go against other teams from other schools? That sounds really…scary.

I lifted my head forward and then let it drop, hitting the brick wall. It didn't hurt that much, but it did leave this weird feeling on the back of my head. I sighed loudly and opened my eyes. My life here surely has been changing little by little, hasn't it? And I haven't even been here for that long! Is Japan always like this? If Aunt Jenny and Uncle James lived somewhere in America instead, would everything be different? Would I not have any friends?

Once again, more and more thoughts came rushing to my head. And it felt like my mind was about to explode. I really wonder what it would be like…if my parents didn't die, or if I still lived with my grandparents, or maybe if Uncle James and Aunt Jenny lived in America instead of Japan…

"Boyer-san," I at first didn't respond to Miki, even when she waved her hand in front of my face. No, I just kept on looking out towards no where. Thinking about life, thinking about my parents, thinking about many things… "Boyer-san…" She waved her hand in front of my face again, but I still didn't respond. I guess you could say I was ignoring her, but not in a mean way. "I'll tell everyone your deepest darkest secret if you don't quit ignoring me." That made me snap back to reality and face Miki with wide eyes.

"That's blackmail!" I accused her.

Miki smirked and placed her hands on her hips and said: "Yes, and I'm VERY good at it." A couple of sakura petals feel down from the tree that Miki was standing underneath, and for some reason, lighting also stroke from behind her. That made me look up to the sky. No gray clouds…nothing. It was all sunny and clear. Okay, now I'm a little freaked out. Does she have some sort of button…or what?

"Boyer-san, would you like to go see Kikumaru-san and the others finish up their tennis practice? I believe they are all having matches against each other today. It should be interesting, don't you think?" Miki said, pushing her glasses up slightly as she said this.

"Huh?" I blinked. "Oh!" Then I nodded. "I would love to, but, uhm, I should probably wait until Jun gets here…" I folded my hands together and leaned back against the brick wall.

"Then how about we leave a note? Naoki-san will find it. Trust me,"

"Huh?" I gasped, snapping my head up to watch Miki writing something in her notepad. She tore the piece of paper out of it, and stuck it up on the brick wall. Then, she grabbed my hand and started to drag me towards the boy's tennis courts. As usual, no matter what I didn't have any say in wherever I was always being dragged off to. But maybe that's a good thing for me?

* * *

The familiar sound of tennis balls hitting the ground, or another person's racket started to come more clear to me as Miki and I got closer to the boys' tennis courts. I was actually…kind of excited. I mean, I've watched a few tennis games with my dad when I was younger-we used to watch a lot of sports together- and I've always loved tennis, but I don't play. I just love to watch everyone else.

Anyway, Miki continued to hold onto my hand, even though the two of us were now walking side by side. I wondered if it was normal at first, but eventually I let it slide. I didn't care if it was normal or not. Miki was showing like…a new side. I giggled when I thought that. Miki was being more…warm. Is that the word I am looking for? Hm, oh well.

"Look, that's Kikumaru-san and Shuichiro-san playing as doubles. The usual," Miki said with a light shrug as she pointed to one court where Eiji and Oishi were both playing against a couple of boys I've never seen before.

"Oh wow…" I breathed. I jogged up to the fence and continued to watch the match.

"0-15," Someone called out as I believe Eiji and Oishi scored a point.

I wasn't exactly playing attention to that, though. I was paying more attention to Eiji and Oishi and how they moved around. And their personalities…Just seemed so different!

The match continued on and another thing I soon noticed was that Eiji moved around like some sort of…acrobatic. It was simply amazing to watch! Now I was really happy that Miki took me back here. I gripped the fence and leaned in a bit closer. After just a minute I got really stuck on watching this. It was…it was great! And I could feel some sort of rush going through me. Eiji and Oishi soon scored again, and again and again! All they needed was one more point now.

"They are called the Golden Pair." I didn't take my eyes off the match even when Miki was talking to me, but I did reply.

"Golden Pair…?"

"That's right," That voice…the one that had just spoken now…was not Miki's voice.

That was the only thing that was able to pull me away. I slowly turned my head to see a smiling brown haired Fuji standing next to me. "They're Seigaku's Golden Pair." He said. I turned back towards the match, only to see that it was finished. Eiji and Oishi high-fived each other. And as for their opponents, well, they were sitting on the ground, trying to catch their breath.

"I want to watch more." I said, gripping the metal fence tighter.

"Saa, Eiji-kun and Oishi-kun are done for today." Fuji replied.

I almost beamed in happiness. "Does that mean I can see Eiji-kun then?" I asked my brown haired friend eagerly. Fuji nodded and told me to follow him. I nodded my head and grabbed Miki's hand before rushing after Fuji.

Eiji, with all his other friends-the Regular's- sat on a bench, talking to each other, although that one guy, Tezuka, wasn't there. Once we got a bit closer I dropped Miki's hand and snuck up behind Eiji. I didn't know why, but I felt so lively right now.

"Boo!" I poked his head. Eiji blinked and rubbed the back of his head, before turning around.

He smiled. "Nya, Lizzy-chan~," He said. Since no one was sitting by Eiji, I quickly took the spot next to him. Miki stood next to me. And Fuji stood by Taka.

I slightly waved my hand at everyone and said the best I could: "K-Konnichiwa,"

Momo laughed as he patted my back. "**Don't be shy!**"

I kept my mouth shut. I absolutely had no idea what Momo said, but that was all right. It didn't seem that he was making fun of me or anything. Uhm…right?

I folded my hands together and placed them on my lap. Eiji started to talk and of course I couldn't understand him, so I only nodded my head along. I would have to ask Miki or Fuji later about it.

"Oh!" I gasped, jumping out of my seat. "Uhm, are you all done with practice or are Miki-chan and I interrupting again? 'Cause if we are we will leave…" I said.

Fuji chuckled and Oishi smiled, before saying:

"Actually we are finished for the day. We just have to go change." I sighed in relief and closed my eyes. Okay, that's good. I didn't want to run into Tezuka again and get everyone into trouble.

"Then don't let us keep you all from changing. I do have somewhere to go with Boyer-san, too. We'll wait for you." Miki mainly said that towards Oishi and Fuji.

Soon the rest of the Regulars' left the tennis courts and into their locker room. Miki and I waited outside for them, since I guess we were now going to walk home with them. I didn't mind though. And it was about fifteen minutes later when they all came out. The sad thing was that Eiji was going home in the other direction, along with Fuji, Kaidoh and Taka. Oishi, Ryoma, Momo and Inui went the way Miki and I were heading. So, we did have some company. But, before Eiji left with his friends, we exchanged hugs. Well…he hugged me first, so I just hugged him back, not wanting to be rude even though I was blushing from embarrassment.

It was kind of silent between the rest of us as we walked around a corner. Well, except for Ryoma and Momo were both arguing with each other or something I didn't understand because they weren't speaking English. Oishi tried to get the two to settle down, by the looks of it. And Inui pushed two cups full of weird looking drinks my and Miki's faces.

"**Here**," Inui said.

Miki immediately pushed her glass away and crossed her arms, saying something that I of COURSE couldn't understand. An evil, familiar looking gleam shined from the edge of Inui's glasses (Not the cups he handed us) when he heard Miki speak.

"Uhm, thanks?" I mumbled as I took the glass out of his hand and lifted it to my lips, about to take a sip.

"Boyer-san!" Momo shouted "**No!**" He tried to reach for my cup, but I took a step backwards, causing him to fall over and then I took a sip but ended up taking a big gulp afterwards.

"Ah," I sighed, pulling the glass away from my mouth. "That was good!"

Everyone-minus Inui who was writing in a notebook of his- stared at me in astonishment.

"What?" I questioned, tilting my head to the side.

Ryoma and Momo both sweat dropped, while Oishi chuckled lightly. And Miki just had her same old emotionless expression plastered on her face. Inui kept mumbling something that sounded like 'Data' or something like that. I shrugged my shoulders and finished the rest of the strange looking but great tasting drink in the cup. I faced Inui with a smile when I was finished.

"**Thank you**," I happily said.

Inui only nodded his head and continued to write down whatever the heck he was writing in that notebook of his. And no, I was not curious to know. Not one bit.

…

Okay, maybe only a little. Hey, you can't blame me, now can you?

"Boyer-san," Miki spoke in a quiet voice. I stopped in my tracks and looked up ahead at Miki who was pointing down a very familiar looking street. "That is your street, right?" She said. I nodded in reply. Miki told me she would walk me to my house so I said my goodbyes to everyone else who were heading down a different street, and followed after Miki.

"Would you like to come inside?" I asked her once we walked up to my front door.

"Hai," Miki nodded.

I smiled at my friend. She seemed so quiet right now. Maybe she was tried? Hm. Well, anyway, I grabbed hold of the door knob and twisted it around until it made this clicking noise. I opened the door, kicked off my shoes and called out for my Aunt Jenny and Uncle James.

"I'm ho-," Before I could finish my sentence I was grabbed by a pair of strong arms and lifted up into the air. I was spun around a couple of times before I stopped, but I was still held in the air.

"Elizabeth, you won't believe it!" The husky voice of Uncle James exclaimed.

I blinked. "I won't believe what…?" I asked him.

"Your Aunt is pregnant! I'm going to be a father!" Uncle James replied.

Slowly, I felt a huge smile form upon my lips and I began to laugh in happiness. "That's great!" I said, smiling big time.

"Amu-san? Is that you?" Uncle James spoke a second later as he spotted Miki taking off her shoes at the front door. Or was she trying to put them back on? "C'mere!" My uncle said again as he walked over to Miki while still holding me in his arms.

"Ah, no, please," Miki stuttered. But it was too late. Uncle James grabbed Miki and easily lifted her up in the air. Spinning us both around.

"Uwaa!" I screamed. "I'm happy for you and Aunt Jenny, Uncle James…" I started.

"But please, let us down!" Miki finished.

I think I'm going to be sick…

Soon enough, after a lot of pleading come from me and…well mostly me. Uncle James finally let Miki and me down. My head was still spinning so I tried to walk into the living room so that I wouldn't fall over on the floor and get a concussion. I was so close to the couch, but ended up tripping anyways.

"Ouch…"

* * *

**LP8:**Okay, I hope you all are happy to have such a...crappy update. -Sigh- I don't really like this chapter that much at all, so I won't blame any of you if you don't like it either. But I promise...PROMISE the next one shall be WAY~ better! ^-^ -Cough- Lots of Eiji and everyone else -cough-

**Bloodpuppy:**Hey, I liked this chapter! Kind of wish it was a bit longer, though.

**LP8:**I would write longer chapters, but I dunno if anyone wants me to. They might think it is...annoying?

**Bloodpuppy:**-Shrugs-

**LP8:**-Sigh-

Anyway, we would like to thank: **Princess-Lazy-Chan, magic126 and mewmewlover23**, for reviewing. THANK YOU!

Please leave a review on your way out...

Bye-bye!

_**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**_


	15. Chapter 15: Coincidences

I rubbed my nose and groaned a couple of more times. My head was no longer spinning, but my nose hurt really badly. Miki had leaned on a chair for support while she waited for her own head to stop spinning, then she fixed her glasses and straightened herself. Uncle James was still going on and on about Aunt Jenny being pregnant and that he was finally going to be a father. I was really happy for the two of them, and I really wanted to see Aunt Jenny this very second, but Uncle James told me she was sleeping right now and that I shouldn't wake her.

I asked Miki if she wanted to stay for dinner, which she replied with an 'Only if I won't be a bother'. I told her she would never be a bother. I also told my Uncle James that I would cook, since Aunt Jenny was sleeping. But he wouldn't hear of it. He wanted to make a very special dinner for the celebration of Aunt Jenny being pregnant. I laughed.

Once Uncle James left to go get dinner started, I took Miki up to my room and that's where we stayed for the next couple of hours.

"So," Miki started, clearing her throat a little. "I'll be teaching you the Japanese language today."

I stopped spinning in circles on my chair and looked at Miki with wide eyes as I said: "Today? Like…right now?"

Miki nodded as she pulled out a book with Japanese spelling on it. "And I expect you to go through this every night and practice on your own, too." She handed me the book, which I stared at. It was kind of heavy. I wonder has she finally lost it.

"Now, let's get started before your oji-san calls us for dinner."

"And by oji-sama I'm guessing you mean my uncle, right?"

Miki smiled. "That's correct. You've earned yourself a brownie point."

"A what?"

"Now, moving on…"

* * *

I swore I saw my soul leave me as I lied on my bed, practically lifeless.

Miki and I have been going at this whole Japanese language thing for almost two hours and it was already so tiring! I didn't know it was going to be this hard. I mean, Japanese people make it look so easy!

…Wait…

"Amu-san, Elizabeth! Time for dinner," My Uncle James called out from down stairs.

I sighed in relief and hopped off my bed. I was finally able to take a break.

Miki sat down the Japanese book that she had been playing with while I tried to remember how to say 'This is my dog' in Japanese. According to Miki she says I have a very small brain. And that's why I suck at learning simple sentences. Or it was something like that…

I walked down stairs, my hand sliding down the wooden railing. I entered the kitchen with Miki following my footsteps. Uncle James was placing some weird looking food on the table. It still sat on this weird looking small little grill, but there were four plates set up around the table. Four meant that Aunt Jenny was going to eat too.

"Oji-san," Hey, if I was gonna learn it, I was gonna use it! "What are these?" I decided to take a closer look. I walked over to the table and looked down. They sort of looked like dumplings…really messed up looking dumplings.

"They're gyoza, Elizabeth." My uncle replied.

"Gyoza are dumplings with a filling usually made of minced vegetables and ground meat. Gyoza were introduced to Japan from China. In Japan gyoza are usually prepared by frying them." Miki explained from behind me. "Remember that, Boyer-san. You will not only learn to speak Japanese, but you will also learn the customs and everything else."

I sweat dropped. "Yes, oh great teacher,"

"**Teacher**," Miki corrected me.

I sighed. "**Teacher**…" I mumbled under my breath as I took a seat at the table. Miki sat next to me and Uncle James went to fetch Aunt Jenny.

Miki and I sat at the table in silence while we waited for my aunt and uncle. I folded my hands and placed them on my lap, and yawned. I was pretty tired, even though I haven't exactly done much today, now have I?

"Oh, Amu-san," Miki and I shifted our bodies around when we heard my aunt speak. Aunt Jenny was standing in the door way, smiling at the two of us. Uncle James was behind Aunt Jenny. His hands on her shoulders, it seemed like he was guiding her to the kitchen. Maybe she was drowsy or he wanted to surprise her. "I didn't know you were joining us for dinner." My aunt continued. "That's great to hear."

Miki stood from her seat, spoke something I couldn't quite understand and slightly bowed her head.

"No need to be so formal, Amu-san." My uncle laughed.

Aunt Jenny lightly giggled. Miki seemed to have blushed from slight embarrassment, and then sat back down. Uncle James tried to take Aunt Jenny to her seat but she refused saying she could do it herself.

The two married couple took a seat next to each other on the other side of the table. Aunt Jenny looked over the food Uncle James had made and smiled in delight.

"It looks wonderful," She said.

"I hope it tastes wonderful, too." Uncle James replied.

"Ah, Boyer-san…" Miki spoke, looking over at Aunt Jenny. "Congratulations."

Aunt Jenny looked a little taken back. Suddenly a pout formed upon her lips. She smacked Uncle James a couple of times in his chest, making him wince as she said: "I wanted to tell them!"

Uncle James blinked several times at his wife, who looked upset at him. "I'm…I'm sorry. I was just so excited!" He apologized, waving his hands in front of his face.

Aunt Jenny's pout turned into a bright smile. Aunt Jenny grabbed her husband's left arm and placed her head on his shoulder. "That's okay. But next time something big happens I get to tell them the news."

Uncle James agreed with Aunt Jenny and smiled too.

I narrowed my eyes. "You two are not a normal couple." I muttered.

"All right, dig in everyone," Uncle James grinned.

* * *

"Hey, Aunt Jenny…? How far along are you, anyways?" I asked my aunt after swallowing some bits of food.

"I don't know, actually. But I do have an appointment at the clinic in two weeks." Aunt Jenny replied.

"Oh…"

I looked down to my food and poked it with my chop sticks. I wasn't very hungry. And Miki seemed to have noticed that. But she just continued on eating her own food before placing her chop sticks down.

"Well…" Miki started as she stood from her seat. She pushed the wooden chair back to where it was before and bowed her head again. "I should be getting home now. It's getting late. Otou-san wouldn't like me to stay out too much later." Aunt Jenny and Uncle James nodded their heads. The two of them stood from their seats, but Miki just told them to sit back down.

"But don't you need a ride home?" Uncle James questioned my friend.

"Yeah, you shouldn't walk home in the dark…" I added. Hey, I was worried about her well-being. I didn't want her hurt or anything. She was my best…friend after all.

Miki shook her head. "**No**, I have a driver coming to pick me up anytime now. I called him a while ago and told him to pick me up in an hour. Thanks for the offer, though." She said giving my aunt and uncle a small smile.

Suddenly, lights shined through the living room windows, indicating that Miki's ride was finally here. My aunt and uncle and I walked Miki to the front door. She stuffed her feet into her shoes and straightened her book bag on her shoulder.

"Thank you very much for dinner and allowing me to stay over for a while." Miki said, glancing at the three of us.

"You're welcome here anytime, Amu-san." My Aunt Jenny replied.

Miki nodded her head at my aunt before facing me. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Okay,"

Miki and I said our good-byes as she headed out the front door. I stood under the door frame and watched as Miki jogged up to this…limo? An older looking man was waiting for her. He opened the last door to the limo and Miki hopped in. The older man walked around the limo and slid into the driver's seat. Soon the limo disappeared around the corner.

"Lizzy, please come back inside before you catch a cold!" Aunt Jenny spoke from the living room.

"O-okay,"

I closed the door and met my aunt and uncle in the living room. The two were sitting on the couch, holding each other while watching some T.V. I just stood next to the couch, glanced at the T.V and then looked back over to my uncle and aunt.

"I think I'm going to take a shower and then head to bed. Good night,"

I left the living room and proceeded what I was going to do.

I wonder what tomorrow will be like…

* * *

_**(The Next Day)**_

"Eh? Jenny-chan is pregnant?" Jun gasped.

"Can you please look at the road ahead of you?" I grabbed the steering wheel and turned it around a little. Jun blinked before grabbing it herself and drove once more.

As you can see, I had just told Jun the news of my aunt being pregnant while heading to school. I was in the same old school uniform and I clutched my book bag to my chest. I wasn't exactly…fond of cars, really. I'm surprised I haven't freaked out this whole time I've been going to school with Jun or going shopping with Aunt Jenny in her car. Maybe I was getting over my slight fear?

"Jenny-chan didn't even call me," Jun heavily sighed. "And I thought we were best friends."

"Well she was sleeping most of the day yesterday. So that's probably why she didn't call you." I said.

"Maybe…"

The rest of the car ride was silent. I said my good-bye to Jun when she pulled up to the school gate. I opened the car door, unbuckled my seat belt and slid out. Keitaro and Shinji were already waiting by the school gate. I jogged up to my two friends with a smile.

"Hey," I greeted them.

"Mornin'," Keitaro yawned.

"Good morning," Shinji smiled back.

"Miki and Lucy aren't here yet?" I questioned aloud.

"Nope," Keitaro replied. "Do you want to wait for them?"

I nodded my head.

The three of us waited about ten minutes before Miki appeared. Keitaro suggested that we should just head inside now, not wanting to face Lucy. I told him I would wait here for her and that he could go in if he didn't want to wait anymore. Keitaro shook his head and decided he would wait with me and the others.

We waited for another ten minutes before Lucy appeared looking extremely tired. She didn't even greet us in her usual happy, bouncy mood. No, she just walked up to us and motioned towards the school building.

"Lucy?" I spoke. "Is something wrong?"

Lucy shook her head in reply.

"Did you get enough sleep last night?" I continued.

Another shake.

"Maybe you should go see Jun-chan. She might let you sleep on one of those beds." Keitaro added.

"I can't. I have to go to class…" Lucy crossed her arms.

"Don't you usually ditch?"

"Yeah, but lately Kazumi-sensei has coming after me, shouting at me to go back to class. He's so annoying~"

"Kazumi-sensei is only like that because you ditch, Philips-san." Miki crossed her arms.

"Whatever," Lucy scoffed.

I giggled at the face Lucy was making. She was pouting. She looked just like a little kid being stubborn. It was adorable.

"Ah," Miki grabbed my hand. "We're going to be late for homeroom. Come along, Boyer-san." I couldn't protest against what Miki said, since it was true. I could only wave good-bye to my other friends as I was dragged into the school building.

* * *

Homeroom had gone by in a flash- even lunch. Miki and I walked down the hall, talking about anything that would come into mind. We were heading for our science class now- Jin-sensei's class. I was kind of excited. I wonder what he would want us to do today. We made bath salts before, so I wondered what he had in store for us today.

"Here we are…" Miki announced, stopping next to the classroom door. Other students were heading in, as was I. But I stopped when I realized Miki wasn't following me in.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"I guess I should tell you," Miki fixed her glasses and cleared her throat. "I won't be joining you for Science anymore. I now go to homeroom, health, math and then science."

I blinked. "So…you and I don't have science anymore…?"

"That's what I just said."

"Oh," I was kind of disappointed, but I understood. …Kind of.

"I'll…" Miki narrowed her eyes. I could see her cheeks flush. "I'll be here after class has ended. We still do have health together…" I nodded. "Well, see you after class." I watched as Miki stalked off around the corner. I quietly sighed and walked into the classroom. I was happily greeted by Jin-sensei, who I happily greeted back. As I began to walk towards my seat-that used to be next to Miki's, but now it was just empty- I was suddenly attacked from behind. I fell to the floor with a loud thump and extra weight on me.

"Who-," I started, but gasped when I turned to look at my attacker.

Eiji.

"Eh?" I blinked. "Eiji-kun, what are you doing here?"

Of course, Eiji replied in Japanese, which I couldn't understand. I sweat dropped and scratched my cheek. "Uhm…" I mumbled. "Can anyone translate for me?" I said more loudly, hoping some English speaker in class would reply.

I heard Jin-sensei laugh loudly as he walked over to me and Eiji. "Eiji-kun said that Sana-chan chan sent him here because he now has science after his homeroom." I was going to ask: Why the hell do we have different homerooms in the first place? Then I actually realized what Jin-sensei had told me…

"EH?"

I looked back and forth between Jin-sensei and Eiji-who was grinning like a cat. I just couldn't believe it! I lose Miki…and gain Eiji. What's going on here? It's like it was all planned!

…Wait…

"Eiji-kun, you can take Miki-chan's old spot next to Elizabeth-chan." Jin started to…prance away, before stopping and looking back. "Oh, I suggest you do it now. Class is about to start." He winked. Then he said something to Eiji in Japanese. I wasn't paying attention…what was the point if I barely even knew what they were saying?

"Hai," Eiji replied enthusiastically.

The red-head happily got off of me and sat down in Miki's old seat. I sighed before I lightly chuckled and stood up myself. I sat down in my seat next to Eiji and smiled at him. He gave me a smile and waved his hand at me.

"**All right! Everyone…**" Jin-sensei started.

Oh, crap!

My only translator: Miki. Was not here anymore…how the hell was I going to be able to know what was going on?

I lightly slapped my face and quietly groaned, sinking back into my chair. This was not going to be good. Well, I could always ask Jin-sensei after class, but that would be kind of embarrassing.

"Eiji-kun and Elizabeth-chan,"

I blinked. What? I pulled my hand away from my face and looked over at Jin-sensei who was writing names on the white board. They were all in pairs. I didn't understand, though.

"**Hooray**!" Eiji cheered next to me.

"Huh?" I blinked at him.

Eiji smiled at me and gave me a peace sign with his fingers. "**Nya,** **we get to be partners!**"

"Uh…" I rubbed the back of my head. I swear, it's like he forgot I don't speak Japanese or know what he is saying, since I can't understand it either.

The lesson continued on with me being very confused…

Soon, it was time for us to switch classes. Which meant Miki would be outside the classroom, waiting for me. I gathered up my things and slightly listened to Eiji ramble on and on next to me.

"Elizabeth-chan," Jin-sensei lightly tapped my head with a note book. I took the note book from his hands and watched as he walked back over to his desk.

"Hm…?" I opened the note book and blinked in amazement.

Everything written was in English. And at the top in big words were: TODAY'S LESSON. And there was also a little drawing of Jin-sensei's head, smiling. A small smile began to form upon my lips. I looked up from the note book and looked at Jin-sensei. I'd have to thank him later…

Suddenly, something kind of heavy plopped down on top of my head. I blinked and tried to look up. It was Eiji, and he was looking down at the note book.

"Ah," I gasped in sudden realization. I could finally find out what Jin-sensei was doing when he was writing down Eiji's and my names. I started to skim through the pages until I came to the one that held my and Eiji's names in it.

_Science Project Partner's: Kikumaru Eiji and Boyer Elizabeth._

_We'll be having a small science fair in the classroom next week! It should be fun and exciting. I'll be the judge and the prize is…a secret! You won't know until you see it (If you win =P)._

_Spend time with Eiji-kun and come up with a project. You've got one week!_

_Good luck~_

_Your science teacher_

I softly mumbled the words: Project and partner.

I was paired up with Eiji to do a science project…

I was…kind of happy.

* * *

"So, you and Kikumaru-san actually got partnered up in a science project?" Shinji questioned me.

It was the end of the school day, which meant I was finally able to go home. I was walking with Miki, Keitaro, Lucy and Shinji by my side.

"Aw," Lucy frowned. "I wish I could've gotten paired up with Liz-chan."

"You're not even in any of her classes." Miki said.

"And what's your point?"

I was then suddenly distracted by the little fight going on by something in my book bag beeping. I stopped in my tracks and opened up my book bag, wanting to know what was making the beeping noise. I figured out it was the cell phone I was borrowing from my uncle. I grabbed the noisy little thing and flipped it open. It said I had one new message, but there was a problem.

"Uhm…" I turned towards my friends. "How do I…check my messages?"

The four of them sweat dropped. Keitaro suddenly snatched the phone away from my grasp and started to push buttons. He soon handed it back to me.

"There," He stated.

"Thanks," I mumbled in reply while looking at the message my Aunt Jenny had sent me. "Oh, I have to go pick up some groceries." I said aloud a moment later. "And I'm in trouble when I get home for telling Jun the news before Aunt Jenny did…"

"What ne-,"

"I'll come with you!" Lucy said, pushing Keitaro over. "I have to pick up some stuff for my mom, too."

I smiled gratefully at Lucy. "All right, I could use the company. Besides, I don't exactly trust myself shopping alone. I could get lost…"

Lucy jumped up and down, cheering. "Shopping with Liz-chan," She repeatedly said.

"I'm going to head home." Shinji spoke. "See you all tomorrow."

Miki nodded her head. "I'll be going too. Good luck with the shopping." And then she left around the corner as well.

"Yeah me too," Keitaro said, rubbing his arm.

"Okay," I giggled. "See you tomorrow." Keitaro gave me one last nod before also disappearing around a corner.

"Let's go!"

"Whaa!"

And so I was dragged off to face my death.

Wonderful…

I waited outside a small shop, waiting for Lucy to finish her shopping in there. There was nothing in there that I needed. Aunt Jenny had sent me another message with a list of things on it, so I did know what I needed to get.

"I wonder what kind of project Eiji-kun and I should do." I tapped my chin in wonder. Damn, I probably should've asked him- or at least had somebody ask him for me- when he wanted to start to project. Guess I'll just have to catch him tomorrow and talk about it.

"Okay, I'm done in here."

I was snapped out of my train of thought by Lucy walking out of the shop. I nodded and followed her to the next shop. This time I did have to go in. I need ramen.

After a while more of food shopping, I was finally finished. But Lucy still had to get a couple more things. I followed Lucy around the crowds of people. I was trying not to lose sight of her, or who knows what will happen to me or her. I could get lost and she could get hurt.

"My, my, what a coincidence," Lucy and I both stopped right in the middle of the side walk.

We both slowly glanced over to the right and immediately recognized the two people that were smiling at us.

Fuji and Eiji.

* * *

**LP8: **Chapter 15: Done. Uhm…was that too long. I hope not…

**Bloodpuppy:** Holy crap, you updated!

**LP8:** It hasn't been THAT long! I could've waited another two months! But, I didn't want to leave the readers hanging…Plus, I like writing this story …I wanted to update on Christmas day, but…that didn't happen.

We would like to thank: **Princess-Lazy-Chan, magic126 and Cookie Krisp**(I had to go get a cookie after seeing your name…).

The next chapter shall be up soon, hopefully…

Hope you all enjoyed your holidays!

See ya next time.

_**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**_


	16. Chapter 16: Confusion

"Eiji-kun! Fuji-san!"

Fuji smiled at Lucy and I. "Hello there, Boyer-san. Ah, and Philips-san." He said with a nod.

Lucy crossed her arms and looked off in another direction. I gave her a puzzled look, but was then distracted by Eiji who started to speak to. But one question did seem to pass by in my mind:_"Does Lucy hate Fuji-kun…?"_

"What a…surprise." Really, I was surprised. I hadn't expected this to happen. Ever. "I hope we didn't interrupt you two of whatever you were doing." I continued.

"No, not at all." Fuji replied. "In fact, we just finished and I was about to head home."

"Oh, I see." I nodded.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Eiji looking back and forth between Fuji and I. He seemed confused, but that was probably because the two of us were speaking English to one another, and he didn't understand English. As I did not understand speaking Japanese…

"Eiji-kun…" Fuji turned towards Eiji, and spoke to him. I backed up a little and watched Eiji's once confused expression turn into a happy one. I wonder what Fuji told him, but just shook it off. When Fuji was done, he turned back towards me. "Saa… I better be going. I'll see you tomorrow at school, Boyer-san." I nodded again.

"Yeah, Lucy and I should be going as we-." I turned to look at Lucy, but she was gone. Vanished into thin air. "Huh?" I blinked. "Hey, do you two know where Lucy we-." I turned to look at Fuji and Eiji, but only saw Eiji. "HUH?" What the hell is going on?

"Ei-Eiji-kun…" Crap, I couldn't even talk to Eiji.

Eiji tilted his head to the side, the puzzled expression showed again. I sighed. Dammit, this wasn't going to be good. Neither of us could understand each other. How the hell were we going to be able to talk to one another now?

Suddenly there was this sharp sting in my chest. And I felt really sad. Was it because I knew I couldn't talk to Eiji, and he couldn't talk to me without both of us being confused? Did I really want to communicate with Eiji this much?

"Ne, Lizzy-chan." Eiji tugged on my hand. I looked back up at him. He was grinning. "**It's alright!**" He gave me a peace sign. I laughed. I didn't get what he sad, but it made me happy.

"**Eiji-kun, thanks.**" I thanked him.

That's when a sudden thought came to me. I tapped my chin and looked up to the sky for a moment. I didn't have to head home right away, and I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask him, although he wouldn't understand me anyways. Would it be all right to drag him there anyways? Or would it be terribly rude? Dammit, now I'm nervous!

"Liz-chan~," Eiji waved a hand in front of my face. I looked back up to him and tilted my head to the side. Eiji opened his mouth but quickly closed it. He looked confused and a bit upset. I sighed. This was going to be a long day… Maybe it would be best if the two of us just went home.

I bowed my head. What was the word for 'excuse me' in Japanese? I could've sworn that Miki taught me it the other day, we did start we basics. Uhm… I remember it was Shitsurei…shimasu? Was that the way to say it formally? I know sumimasen was the way to gain attention, so Shitsurei shimasu must be the way to say pardon me, right?

"**Pardon me,** **Eiji-kun**," I said in a low voice. This was so awkward. I liked it better when we had someone to translate for us. I just need more time to learn how to speak and understand Japanese and then I can talk to Eiji easily. Crap, now how do I say 'See you later' in Japanese? Why did this language have to be so confusing?

"Eh?" Eiji blinked.

"Uhh…" I stumbled for the right words. The right Japanese words, that is. "**See you later**," Yeah. I think that was it!

I started to walk away, grocery bags in my hands. I sighed sadly. I felt really bad for just suddenly leaving Eiji, but it would be hard to talk to him without Lucy or Fuji or anyone else being here. I couldn't handle it. Darn, now I feel really bad.

"Liz-chan," I was yanked back. I gasped and turned around. Eiji had grabbed onto my hand. "**Let's hang out!**" He said. I giggled, I knew what that meant. That was one of the sentences Miki had taught me repeatedly the other day. I can't believe it. He actually wanted to hang out even though we barely are able to understand each other. That…made me so happy!

I nodded. "**Ok**,"

* * *

_**(-?-)**_

"**What the hell?**" Lucy screeched as she pulled Fuji's hand away from her mouth.

"**I'm sorry, Philips-san.** **I just want to see something…**" Fuji said as he peeked through the bushes. **(Extra: 4)**

"**And I don't really care, but why the hell did you have to drag me?**" Lucy questioned.

"**Saa, the thing I want to see is Boyer-san and Eiji-kun. I think it would be interesting to follow them and see what they do, don't you?**" Fuji arched an amused eyebrow at Lucy. Lucy crossed her arms and sighed.

"**Yeah, I suppose. But why the hell these two?**"

"**You don't see it?**"

"**See what**?"

**"…Hm…"**

**"Tell me!"**

* * *

_**(-Elizabeth-)**_

I laughed along with Eiji. We were hanging out. For the first time we were actually hanging out. And laughing with each other! We went to the park and swung on the swings. Eiji even got me to act like a little kid again. I had so much fun! We then went to grab a bite to eat and we looked at some shops we passed by. Now we were walking down an almost empty side walk. It was starting to get late, but I didn't seem to care. Hanging out with Eiji was really fun. But for some reason I had this strange feeling. Like…the two of us were being watched. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I could've sworn…

"Nya, Liz-chan!" Eiji tugged on my hand like a child. I smiled and looked up at him.

"**Yes?**"

Eiji opened his mouth, but closed it, just like earlier today. He tapped his index finger on his chin and looked up at the sky in thought. I knew he wanted to tell me something, but I figured he just didn't know how to get me to understand. "**Follow me**," Was all he had said.

I didn't understand, but noticed that he was motioning me to follow him. So I did. And after walking for a few minutes or so, we came to small ice cream shop. I immediately recognized it. Gibbs-san owned this shop!

The two of us walked in. A familiar sound of a bell ringing rung in my ears. I remember it from the first time I was dragged into here by Gibbs-san herself. "**Just a minute!**" A familiar called out from the back room.

Eiji and I sat down in a couple of chairs at the counter as we waited for Gibbs-san to come back from whatever she seemed to be doing. We only had to wait for about five minutes before Gibbs-san appeared around the corner. She seemed to stop when she spotted me, but she soon smiled and walked over to us.

"Boyer-san, I didn't think you were actually going to come back. And it seems you brought your boyfriend." Gibbs-san covered her mouth as she giggled.

I blushed. "We're just friends, Gibbs-san." I replied.

Gibbs-san tilted her head to the side. She teasingly smiled at me and nodded her head saying: "Uh-huh, whatever you say."

I sweat dropped. How the hell did she even get this idea? Can't I hang out with my guy friends without people mistaking us for being boyfriend and girlfriend?

"Boyer-san, you're face is as red as a tomato." Gibbs-san poked my nose.

"Eh?" I fell backwards and onto the floor with a loud thump. Eiji once happy expression turned into a worried one. He jumped off his seat and helped me up onto my feet. I thanked him, smiled and wiped off my skirt. Unlike Eiji I was still in my school uniform.

I blinked. Wait, Eiji…was in normal clothes. Not his tennis clothes or his school outfit, but in regular clothes. Why had I just noticed this now? And why the hell did I feel heat rise up to my cheeks?

"Ah, you're blushing again."

I turned towards Gibbs-san with my eyes clenched shut and shook my fists in the air. "Shut up!" I said being quite childish.

Gibbs-san giggled again. I could tell she was really enjoying this.

"**Hey, are you okay?**" Eiji questioned.

I, surprisingly, knew what that meant. It was that hard to tell. "**Yes**," I nodded back to Eiji.

"So I suppose you two came here to get some ice cream, right?" Gibbs-san arched an eyebrow at us. Her smile had faded away and she had gone back to her serious look that she usually had on. Or at least that's what I remembered she had on most of the time when I first met her.

"Why else would we be here?" I said back.

"Witty. You know, I normally don't say this, but I like you Boyer-san." Gibbs-san grinned.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Ehe…thanks. You're a nice person, Gibbs-san."

Suddenly I was grabbed by my jacket and pulled closer to Gibbs-san's face.

"EH?" I gasped.

"You're cute, ya know. Too bad you're only fourteen years old." Gibbs-san sighed and released me.

Uhm, what happened and what the heck did she mean by that?

"Although your boyfriend here is pretty cute too, but I suppose he is the same age as you. Man, young people in love. Why can't I get a nice woman?" Gibbs-san sighed louder this time. She crossed her arms and pouted.

"Gi-Gibbs-san, for the last time: Eiji and I are only friends." I muttered.

"That's what you say for now." Huh? I blinked. What did she mean by that? This woman was so confusing!

"C-Can we just get some ice cream now?" My left eye twitched. I was starting to get irritated. Not by Gibbs-san, but because I couldn't understand what she meant by 'That's what I'll say for now'. Maybe I can ask my friends tomorrow or something. Or maybe I can ask Uncle James or Aunt Jenny or maybe even Jun!

"If you tell me what flavor you want then you can have some ice cream." So, Eiji and I pointed out what flavors we wanted. I wanted mine in a cup while Eiji wanted his on a cone.

"Boyer-san, you never properly introduced me to your boyfriend." Gibbs-san winked at me.

"Not my boyfriend!"

Gibbs-san completely ignored me and started to talk to Eiji. "**I'm Gibbs Abigail. What's your name?**"

Of course, Eiji replied in his usual manner. Man, maybe it was a bad idea coming in here. My face was still flushed from earlier. Well, I suppose it was nice seeing Gibbs-san again, and this time we've become a bit closer, but she seemed to have so much fun teasing me! Gah!

I narrowed my eyes at Eiji and Gibbs-san who were having a conversation. Then suddenly Eiji glanced at his watch and jumped from his seat, shouting something I didn't quite understand.

"Eiji-kun?" I lightly touched his back.

"He said he was late for dinner." Gibbs-san bluntly told me.

"Oh," I kind of think the ice cream spoiled his dinner now though. "Uhm, Gibbs-san can you tell him that he can go home if he wants now?" I asked her. Hey, she spoke Japanese and English, it'd be easier this way. Plus, I didn't know how to tell him myself. But anyway, Gibbs-san did as I asked her. Eiji spoke back and Gibbs-san translated for me.

"Kikumaru-san said he wants to walk you home."

"Eh…?" He really wanted to walk me home?

I looked down to my feet. Heat once again rose to my cheeks. For some reason hearing that he wanted to walk me home made me feel…weird. "O-Okay," I nodded. I looked back up at Eiji and smiled. I pointed to my left over money I had and then pointed to Gibbs-san. Eiji understood what I meant but immediately pulled out his wallet. It seemed like he wanted to pay, but I wanted to do it.

"Nope, put your money away you two. It's on me this time." Gibbs-san interrupted. She had to push down Eiji's hand to get him to understand that she didn't want him paying.

"Thank you very much." I waved at Gibbs-san. She waved back and watched Eiji and I walk out of the ice cream shop. I was finished with mine, so I threw away the empty cup in a nearby trash can. Eiji was still eating his cone. In fact, he plopped the last bit into his mouth, causing his cheeks to look slightly big. I giggled and pulled out a napkin from my pocket. He had ice cream on his nose so I decided to clean it off for him. "You're kind of a messy eater, huh." I said.

"Huh?" Eiji was confused, but didn't seem bothered by me wiping off his nose for him.

The rest of the way the two of us walked in silence. There was really nothing to talk about, and of course we could barely even speak to each other. But the silence was nice too.

I glanced up at the stars. It was a moonless night, but the stars shined brightly in the night sky. It was…pretty. I didn't see this many stars back in Georgia. My house was surrounded by many trees, so they usually blocked the night sky. But sometimes I remember that my parents and I would take my father's telescope and we would go up to a fairly large hill where it wasn't surrounded by tress or anything. And my father and I would look through the telescope and up at the stars while my mother sat on the grassy ground and watch us, pointing out a few things once in a while.

"Liz-chan…?"

"Eh…?" I looked up at Eiji with a blurry vision. He was looking at me concerned. And that's when I realized I had stopped walking, and I was crying. "E-Eiji-kun…" I said his name as more tears rolled down the side of my face. I began to cry into the palm of my hands. I couldn't stop. Remembering something my parents and I actually used to do when they weren't busy really got to me. Sure, I had cried when I learned of their death, but when I think of the memories- the ones that I actually have of them…I break down crying. I…wish I could have had more memories with them.

I could barely breathe now. I was sobbing, and I bet I woke people up with my loud crying. Suddenly arms wrapped around me, and another head laid on mine. I knew it was Eiji, so I leaned into his chest and cried while clenching onto his red shirt. He was probably confused as to why the heck I suddenly started crying, and this confused me too. Eiji was comforting me more than he tried to cheer me up. Maybe he thought it would be best just to stay quiet and let me finish crying…

I cried for about twenty minutes.

* * *

"Ehe," I giggled. Eiji and I were walking to my house again. After I finished crying I had pulled myself away from Eiji and wiped away my tears. I told him I was fine. He listened and motioned that we should continued on. So we did. And along the way Eiji started to think of ways to make me laugh. Right now he was making weird but funny faces. "Uwah! That was a cat!" I pointed out to his last face. "Uhm…" I tried to think of the word for 'cute'. "**C-cute**!"

Eiji happily smiled and I smiled back at him.

"Oh," I mumbled as I realized we were now both right outside of my house. "Uhm…" I lightly bowed to show Eiji my appreciation for taking me home. "Arigato, Eiji-kun…" I wanted to tell him to be safe on his way home, but I didn't know how. And I felt terrible for not be able to say it.

Eiji patted my head. "**Nya, cheer up!**"

"H-hai…" Didn't know what he said, but I replied anyways.

"**See you tomorrow!**" Eiji said in his cheery voice. He began to jog out of sight while waving at me. I waved back until he disappeared around a corner.

I walked up to my door, groceries still in hand. Uncle James and Aunt Jenny were probably wondering what took me so long and maybe even worried. And now I feel kind of bad for not contacting them. Man…I hope they won't be too mad.

I opened the door and kicked off my shoes, hoping for the best. I tip toed my way past the living room and towards the kitchen where I stopped and poked my head inside the doorway. Damn, they both were in there. Uncle James was drinking a beer and Aunt Jenny was making dinner- which smelled delicious.

"I'm…I'm home." I walked into the kitchen and placed the groceries on top of the table.

"Welcome home, Elizabeth." Uncle James greeted me. Aunt Jenny did the same and asked if I could put away the groceries for her. I nodded and silently started to put them away.

"So, what were you doing all day, honey?" I could tell that Aunt Jenny was talking to me. She didn't sound angry, she just sounded curious.

"Uhm, well, Lucy and I went food shopping, and then we seemed to run into Fuji-san and Eiji-kun out of nowhere. Then Fuji-san and Lucy seemed to suddenly disappear, so Eiji and I hung around town for a while. I'm sorry for not contacting you. I was having so much fun that I, uhm, completely forgot." It was the truth.

"Ah, well, make sure to call next time. I'm glad you were having fun with your friends, though." Aunt Jenny smiled.

"So…you're not mad." I glanced at both my Aunt and Uncle.

"Nope not at all. Amu-san had called us an hour ago, asking if you and Philips-san came back from shopping yet. So we figured you were fine if you were with your friend." Uncle James said. "But like your aunt said: remember to call next time. We would at least like to hear from you once in a while."

"Okay, I will." I nodded.

Aunt placed three plates on the table. "Well, now that we got that out of the way- have you had dinner yet, Lizzy?"

I shook my head. "No, but I did have a small bite to eat with Eiji-kun but it wasn't much, it was more like a snack, and then we had a tiny bit of ice cream together, but then again I didn't get much." I replied.

"Then sit down and let's eat." Aunt Jenny placed some strange looking food on my plate. Strange looking, but it sure smelled good. I sat down next to my uncle, and across from my aunt. "Oh, and you can tell me about this Eiji-kun that you hung out with today. Is he your boyfriend?"

Uncle James spit out his beer. I blocked myself with my hands and a napkin. He practically had spit it out everywhere. Aunt Jenny began to scold Uncle James as she wiped down the table.

"Boyfriend? I will not hear of this!" Uncle James proclaimed as he wiped his mouth. "My darling niece is too pure! Too innocent!"

"Eh?"

Aunt Jenny huffed. "Sheesh, James. She's fourteen years old. She's bound to get a boyfriend soon enough. I bet there are a lot of guys flocking around her at school."

I sweat dropped. "Uhm…actually there isn't."

"No! Never! I will not let my niece be contaminated by those…those teenage boys! Just think what could happen to her. Think of the heart breaks they will give her!" Uncle James continued his little speech. Then suddenly he grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. And I could've sworn there was a pink flowery background going on behind him. "Don't worry, Elizabeth." He stroked my hair. "You Uncle James will keep those bad boys away from you."

"Huh?"

"Sweetheart," Aunt Jenny growled in a low tone of voice as she grabbed Uncle James by the back of his shirt. And were those…snakes in her hair? Wait, what the hell happened to her hair? And where did the fiery background come from. "Enough now eat!" She made my uncle sit back down in his seat and stuffed food into his mouth.

"Now…" The fiery background disappeared and Aunt Jenny had normal hair again. "Tell me about this friend of yours? Is he another friend like Fujiwaka-san and Kihara-san?"

I sat back down, nodding. "Yes,"

"Is he cute?" My aunt pushed on.

"Eh? C-Cute?"

"Nooooo~!" Uncle James shouted out again, only to have Aunt Jenny stuff more food in his mouth. He sat back down and lowered his head as a dark aura surrounded him.

"You have to let me meet him sometime!" Aunt Jenny continued, clapping her hands together and smiling sweetly.

"Why is it that you always want to meet my friends?" I sighed.

"Oh! Maybe he'll become your boyfriend! Kyaaa!" Aunt jenny squealed like a high school girl. "My little Lizzy is going to get a boyfriend!"

"Aunt Jenny aren't you thinking a little too far ahead in this?"

"I have to go tell Jun!"

"AUNT JENNY! WAIT~!"

* * *

"Why does Aunt Jenny always think things too far ahead?" I mumbled as I hugged onto the picture of my mom and dad. I was laying on my bed now, covers placed over me. I couldn't sleep though. I was thinking about a lot of things, especially about what happened tonight. "Eiji being my boyfriend…?" I blushed. Why did that thought make my cheeks so red? And what was with this feeling? "No…No way! Eiji and I are just friends. No way…" I sat up, sighing. I really couldn't sleep now. That thought had completely woke me up. "Maybe I'll study a little." I told myself. I put the photo of my parents back on my desk and sat on my chair. I grabbed a couple of text books out of my bag and opened them. I had gotten 'special' ones. According to Jun. They were all in English, but had the same lesson as the original books everyone else had. I began to study and write stuff down. Hopefully I would remember it all when I really need to.

"And this should equal to…" I stopped. A light in the corner of my eyes distracted me. I glanced over to see what it was; it turned out to be the picture of my parents- with me in their arms- shining from the light from the stars. I put my pencil down and laid my head on my desk as I looked at the picture, tracing over my parents faces with my finger.

"I am so confused. I don't know what do to anymore. I miss you two, I hope you know that… Maybe if you were still alive you'd be able to tell me what to do. Then maybe I wouldn't be so confused…"

* * *

_**(-The Next Day-)**_

"Good luck, Lizzy!" Aunt Jenny waved at me as I walked towards Jun's car. I sweat dropped and lowered my head. Was she still going on about last night? Or is it just my imagination now?

I sighed and slipped into the passenger's seat of Jun's car. She greeted me with a 'good morning' before starting the car and driving off. I leaned back into my seat and closed my eyes. I only got about two hours of sleep last night, so I was pretty tired, but it was my own fault for not going to bed when I should have.

I opened my eyes and looked out the car window. Today was going to be a long day, but maybe I can see Eiji and everyone practice. That would be nice, I've wanted to watch them a lot more lately but a lot of things have been going on. Maybe now's my chance! Oh! I wonder if they're still practicing right now. It's still pretty early in the morning; school doesn't start for another thirty minutes.

"Lizzy, is something wro-." Jun looked at me with the dullest look. "What the heck is with that look of determination?"

"Uh… I was, uhm, thinking I could start watching Eiji-kun and everyone else on the Regular team practice and possibly go to more of their tournaments…" Crap, now I'm really embarrassed. Is that something a normal person would say?

Jun blinked. "Oh, really? Are you interested in tennis or something?"

"Ah, not really." I laughed and rubbed the back of my head. "I just like watching Eiji practice and everything. My heart beats really fast and this weird excited feelings suddenly takes over me. I…like it." I looked at Jun. "Uhm…what I just said wasn't weird, was it?"

Jun laughed. Really loudly, and for about two minutes. I was confused, I didn't quite understand, but I hope she wasn't laughing at me… She was, wasn't she?

"Too cute!" Jun squealed.

I backed up a little. That so reminded me of Aunt Jenny.

"Oh my gosh! I have to tell Jenny-chan about this!"

"Ab-about what exactly?"

Her grin looked absolutely horrifying. "Sec-ret~,"

"Aw man…" I sighed. "What is with them all? Ever since last night when I told them I hung out with Eiji-kun they've been acting like…school girls. And they think I'm going to get a boyfriend. I wonder if they were dropped on their heads as babies or something…" I sighed more loudly as I continued to make my way past the gates of my school. Other girls and boys from my school also headed towards the school building, and even some headed towards the tennis courts. I headed towards the tennis courts too. I really hoped Eiji was still at practice…

"Woohoo~~~!"

"Kyaaa!"

I turned around, curious. I saw multiple girls and boys fall down, and then a small figure jump up on one of the gates then jumped down. I was suddenly ambushed.

"Liz-chan! I'm so happy today!"

Lucy was here.

"What good thing happened to you?" I questioned her, letting her stay latched onto my back.

"I got to have my favorite breakfast this morning!" Lucy stated.

I practically fell over. That was why she was happy? Because she got to have her favorite breakfast this morning? She amazes me…

"Congratulations?" I really didn't know what else to say.

Lucy grinned. "Thanks! Now were you heading to the tennis courts? I'll come with you!"

"Ah, oh, really? Thanks." I said, smiling.

Suddenly the same fiery background appeared behind Lucy and her hair was turned into snakes. "Yeah well I got a score to settle with that Fuji guy." She cracked her knuckles and laughed evilly.

Backing up a little I blinked and asked: "What did Fuji-san do to you?"

Fiery background disappeared and Lucy's pink hair was back in her two high pigtails. "Nothing you need to know of…" Lucy crossed her arms and glanced in another direction.

"Okay-…"

"THAT BASTARD KIDNAPPED ME!" The fiery background was back.

"Oh…I see."

"Now," Okay, what the hell? Now there was a pink background with flowers and little hearts behind Lucy. "Let's go see them~!" She said cutely as she grabbed my hand and begun to drag me towards the tennis courts.

"Really, is there some sort of secret button I don't know about?"

* * *

**LP8:** _-Is sobbing-_ Every review I get…makes me so happy! WHAAAA!

**Bloodpuppy:** _-Backs away-_ Sorry about this everyone. LP8 had been really emotional lately. It's very scary! I blame all those Shoujo Manga's she has been reading lately. TOO MUCH ROMANCE AND DRAMA FOR YOU! _–Smacks LP8-_

**LP8:** Bloodpuppy, did I ever tell you what a great friend you are to me? _–Hugs Bloodpuppy-_

**Bloodpuppy:**Oh god! GET HER OFF ME! _–Tries to pry LP8 off-_

**LP8:** Ah! I feel better. –Wipes away tears- Anyway, I didn't exactly know what to write for this chapter. …Well, I had the idea. I wanted Eiji and Elizabeth to get closer, like I've been trying to do but for some reason that plain kept on failing _–Sweat drop-_ so I wrote this chapter while thinking about Elizabeth and Eiji. They were the only things on my mind, and yet I think this chapter is somewhat crappy, but I did have fun writing it. It was…enjoyable so I hope you found it all enjoyable as well. I suck at sappy/romance things. T.T I just like to read them and only hope I can someday write something really good that's sappy/romantic. _–Sigh-_

**Bloodpuppy:**-.- Well, there goes LP8 in her emotional state again. So I'll thank the reviewers. Thanks to: **Princess-Lazy-Chan, mewmewlover23****and TsukinoFlyheight.**Thank you all!

**LP8:**T.T _–Sniff-_ Thank you!

Well, please leave a review and the two of us will update soon!

See ya next time!

_**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**_


	17. Chapter 17: Boy's House

"Lucy…?"

"Hmm…?"

"Why are you wearing this weird outfit, and why are you peeking behind the fence at Fuji-kun?"

Lucy was currently wearing…some sort of outfit. And it was weird. Oh, wait, you know what, it looked like an outfit a ninja would wear. Wait…when did Lucy have the time to change? And where did she get the outfit all of the sudden? And WHY are we HIDING?

"Because I am on a mission!" Lucy stated.

I raised a brow. "Mission…?"

"Yes, a mission to kill Fuji Syusuke!"

"All because he…just took you somewhere?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Well, all we did was follow you and Eiji, but…YES!"

"Wait, what?"

"NOTHING, now, back to spying!" Lucy continued to peek at Fuji and everyone else, who were currently taking a break before Ryoma went to his match. I watched in silence, and was amazed at how fast Ryoma was. The match quickly ended, with Ryoma muttering something I couldn't quite hear because of the distance between us. He walked back over to his friends, where Momo proudly patted Ryoma's back, saying something with a smile.

Lucy was still caught up with spying on Fuji, glaring daggers at him. She didn't even notice me slip away and walk towards them. I really wanted to see them all again! And thankfully Tezuka wasn't around, so hopefully nothing would happen like last time…

"E-Eiji-kun," I called out his name, waving at him. Eiji's laughter died down as he turned to look at me. His cat-like grin appeared and he waved back. I jogged up to him and was pulled in quick hug by Eiji.

"Nya, Liz-chan~!" He laughed. I giggled.

"I can't breathe, Eiji-kun." I said. Eiji released me, quickly apologizing. I laughed, and told him it was all right.

"**Yo, Boyer-san, long time no see!**" Momo greeted me with a friendly smile. **(1: Long time no see!)**

"**Same to you!**" I folded my hands together and nodded.

"Saa, you've gotten better with your Japanese, Boyer-san." Fuji commented. "And it's only been a couple of days."

I smiled brightly, and said: "Thanks! Miki was at my house the other day, helping me out with my Japanese. She's a really good teacher!" Along with adding, "Although I still have a lot more to learn."

Fuji smiled. "You'll get there."

"Mm…I know." I nodded my head again, and then glanced at Ryoma. "Oh, Echizen-san I watched your match. You were great!" I then blinked. "Ah, wait, that's right, you probably don't know English, do you…" I tapped my chin in thought. Something tapping my shoulder got me to look over my shoulder at Fuji.

"Actually, he does know English. He lived in America until a while back." Fuji said.

"Oh," I nervously laughed, rubbing the back of my head. "Well, like I said before, great match!"

Ryoma sighed and lowered his hat. He quietly muttered something I couldn't quite hear, so I shrugged it off.

I turned back to Eiji, speaking to him. I asked him something I've been meaning to ask him for a while. It was about the science project we got partnered up for. I figured we needed to start it up soon, so I asked him when he would like to, also getting some help with translation for both Eiji and I from Fuji and Oishi. Eiji agreed with me that we should start it up soon, and asked if I would like to start today. "**Yes**," I nodded. "Uhm…" I mumbled, thinking. Suddenly, Eiji spoke up, and I turned to Oishi for translation, seeing that Fuji went to grab something to drink.

"Eiji-kun asked if you would like to start the project at his house after school." I don't know why, but I felt heat rise to my cheeks. Eiji's…house? Really? Me, going to Eiji's house? Me…going over to a BOY'S house?

"Uh…uhm…uh…" I stumbled for words. I guess it would be better than letting Eiji come over to my house, with Aunt Jenny being there and all, she might scare him away, and I didn't want to lose a friend or anything like that. "O-Okay," I nodded, smiling at Eiji. Thankfully, Eiji knew that I agreed and told me something else. I'm pretty sure he told me to wait for him after practice today after school, so I nodded again and told him I would.

"Aha! I've got you now, Fuji Syusuke!" Someone laughed. We all turned around only to see Fuji sitting on the ground with a net of some sort over him, and Lucy pointing and laughing at him.

"Isn't that your friend, Boyer-san?" Oishi pointed to Lucy.

"Y-Yeah, that's my friend. Her name is Philips Lucy…" I replied. "I'll go get her, sorry!" I apologized, even though half of them couldn't understand what I said. I jogged over to Lucy and Fuji, pulling the net off of him. Lucy stopped laughing and glared at me.

"Why'd you take it off?" She demanded, stomping her foot.

"Why'd you throw a net on him?" I retorted.

Lucy huffed. "I told you, I am on a mission. And I finally captured my target and was preparing to torture him, but you came and released him." She crossed her arms and looked away.

Fuji stood up, looking over at me and raising a brow. "Don't ask…" Was all I said.

"Ah, whatever." Lucy uncrossed her arms. "I have more tricks up my sleeve anyways. Now, time for me to disappear!" Lucy looked left, and then right, then she suddenly started to run away. "YOU DIDN'T SEE ME!" You could hear her yell as she disappeared into the school building.

Cue the sweat drop, and possibly a few more for everyone else who was watching.

"Sorry about that." I apologized to Fuji, bowing slightly.

Fuji chuckled and his smile appeared. "That's all right, I actually found that very interesting, in fact. Philips-san sure can be entertaining." He said.

"I guess…" I mumbled with a small laugh. Eiji and the others walked back over to me, some slightly confused while others not. Eiji was one of them, but I quickly changed the subject to something else. Eiji and his friends and I talked for about ten minutes, before Tezuka walked up to us, shouting at them to get back to practice. I told them I was sorry for keeping them from practicing and told Eiji I would see him in science and math class later. I also apologized to Tezuka, but he simply shrugged it off and then started to ignore me. To me he felt really cold and he also scared me a little. Does he act this way to everyone? It seems like it, man I kind of feel bad for the guys now, having to deal with him. Maybe he has a warmer side that they know about though. Huh, now I'm a bit curious.

I began to walk to the school building, deciding I would sit in homeroom class until it began. As I walked by a sakura tree, a boy holding a video camera up to his face got me to stop. "Shinji-kun?" I called out his name. He smiled behind the camera, waving at me. He walked over to me and greeted me with a 'Good morning' in Japanese. I replied the same way, now getting more used to it.

"May I walk you to your homeroom?" He asked me. I nodded and allowed him to, deciding it would be nice to have some company. Shinji and I entered the school building and stuffed our outside shoes in our cubbies and switched to our indoor shoes. "You seem to be warming up to Kikumaru-san a lot lately, huh?" Shinji commented.

I smiled. "Yeah, I guess I am. I still get really nervous around him, but after a while it just starts to go away."

"Maybe it was because of what happened yesterday."

I glanced over my shoulder at Shinji. "What happened yesterday…?" I repeated.

He sent me an apologetic look. "Sorry, but yesterday I was taking a walk around the neighborhood, and spotted you and Eiji. You were crying, and then Eiji started to comfort you." I lowered my gaze to my feet. So Shinji saw, huh?

"And I guess you know why I was crying too." A small sad smile played across my lips. "Someone like Lucy, Keitaro or Miki probably already told you right?"

"…" I took that as a yes.

"Figures," I ran my fingers threw my curly locks. "Sorry you had to see that, it's just…staring at the stars reminded me of something my parents and I used to do a while back. Guess it really got to me." I laughed a bit louder.

"Boyer-san…"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." I gave Shinji a reassuring smile. "See? Now, weren't you going to take me to my homeroom class?" I grabbed Shinji's hand before he could say anything else and walked down the halls of Seigaku.

* * *

Time seemed to fly by so fast; I was already in science, sitting next to Eiji. After class ended Jin-sensei handed me another notebook, full of today's lesson. We talked for a moment when he asked me if Eiji and I started the project yet. I told him no, but I would be going over to Eiji's today to start it. He seemed very pleased with my answer. After that, Eiji and I left the classroom when I suddenly felt a chill go down my spine. I glanced around with the feeling of being stared at bothering me. Before I could tell what it was, Eiji quickly dragged me away to our math class, where Imani-sensei was already there…giving us a very cold stare, as usual. I was starting to get used to her and her cold stares, but now I felt like I was getting more than one, lately.

After math ended, Akito and Naomi came up to my desk and talked to me, Akito doing most of the speaking. They asked if I had decided whether I would be joining the basketball team or not, but I told them I still haven't decided. They gave me a deadline: three weeks. Three weeks to decide.

School finally ended, and I invited Miki, Keitaro, Shinji and Lucy if they would like to come with me to watch Eiji and his friends at practice. Miki and Shinji turned me down, saying that they had to go home. Keitaro agreed as did Lucy. But my short friend had seemed to disappear when we made it outside. I suggested that we should look around for her, but Keitaro protested and started to pull me towards the tennis courts where Eiji and his friends walked out of the boy's locker room.

I waved at Eiji from the other side of the fence, and he waved back. This time I was really lucky to see everyone else practice. Momo was absolutely amazing, as was everyone else. I was interested in all these special techniques they each used. Like: Snake Shot from Kaidoh. And the Drunk Smash from Momo, and a few others I couldn't remember. Tezuka was here too, I stayed far away from him. And there was this older woman, wearing a pink track suit here too, and three boys, who watched the Regular's. And soon enough Sakuno and Tomoka came by too. It was nice seeing them again; we even had a conversation about tennis and the Regular's. I learned quite a bit.

After a couple of hours practice ended, and I waited for Eiji by the school entrance while he went to change. Keitaro went home, and Lucy was still gone, so I was by myself. I hummed a random song that popped into my head while I waited.

"Lizzy?" I blinked and looked to my right. Jun walked over to me, carrying her case. "Did you not walk home with your friends today?" She asked me as she came a bit closer.

I shook my head. "Actually, I'm going over to Eiji's house so we can work on our science project." I replied.

"Oh, I see." Jun nodded. "Did you tell you aunt and uncle?"

I gasped with sudden realization. I never asked Aunt Jenny or Uncle James if I could! Oh no, oh no. Does…does this make me a bad niece? I glanced around frantically, biting my lower lip. When Jun suddenly laughed, I looked back up to her.

"Okay, so I guess not. Don't worry, I'll give them a call and tell them for you. They'll understand, now stop worrying about it." She winked at me. I calmed myself down, nodding and thanking Jun over and over again. Jun laughed once more before giving me a hug and telling me that she would see me tomorrow morning. We said our goodbyes as Jun walked to the parking lot, and I continued to wait for Eiji. That's when I started thinking. How the HELL am I going to get through this with barely knowing any Japanese? Yesterday was hard enough! Man, I wish I thought of these things ahead of time…

"Nya, Liz-chan~!" A smile replaced my frown. I turned around and waved at Eiji who jogged up to me, now in his school uniform. Everyone else walked behind him and watched as he clung to me. I stumbled a bit before regaining my balance. Eiji was…heavy, but I allowed him to cling to me while we walked to his house. I parted ways with Inui, Momo, Oishi and Ryoma, while I walked with Eiji, Taka, Fuji and Kaidoh. I ended up having a conversation with Taka about the sushi shop his dad owns, Fuji helped out with some of the translation. Taka even invited me to come and visit one day, to which Eiji seemed really excited about, suggesting I should go with him.

Soon enough, Eiji and I parted from the others and walked down another street. We soon reached a fairly large house; the outside color was a nice shade of brown. Maybe it was a beige color. There was also a little garden out front, full of flowers. Eiji gestured me to follow him, so I did. As he walked into his house he shouted something like 'Tadaima' which I'm pretty sure meant 'I'm home'.

Eiji and I kicked off our shoes and put on the slippers that were by the front door. Our footsteps echoed throughout the hallway as we walked to who-knows-where. I silently followed Eiji past the living and into the kitchen. A sudden smell of cinnamon hit my nose. I breathed in the scent, enjoying it.

"**Welcome home, Eiji**." A sweet sounding voice spoke.

In front of me stood an older woman, who looked to be about in her late thirties or early forties. She wore a pink apron over her clothes and her hands had some sort of sticky stuff all over it. I guessed her to be Eiji's mother, and boy did the two look similar. Same color hair, even the same colored eyes! And some of their facial features looked the same. She had to be his mother.

"**Oh really?**?" She glanced over at me, smiling. Eiji replied with a 'Hai' before plopping himself down on a chair near the counter.

I bowed. "**Sorry to intrude**," One of the first sentences Miki taught me the other day…

"Eiji told me you have a hard time speaking Japanese. So whenever you get tired of it you can come speak to me in English." Eiji's mom winked at me, smiling.

I stared at her in shock. "You…you can speak English?"

Eiji's mom nodded. "Yes, I went to America when I was younger, before I met Eiji's father." She said.

"I see…"

"Oh!" She suddenly gasped. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Eiji's mom, Kikumaru Sena." She bowed, and I did the same again.

"Boyer Elizabeth. And like I said before, sorry to intrude." I rubbed the back of my neck, chuckling.

"It's no problem. I've wanted to meet you for a while. Eiji talks about you a lot." Sena turned around, leaving me to blush. Eiji talks about me to his family, seriously? "I was just making some snacks, would you like some, Boyer-san?"

"S-Sure,"

I sat down next to Eiji who then began to talk to his mom. They talked about the science project and how we haven't figured out what we were going to do yet, and other things like where is the rest of Eiji's family, etc, etc. Sena handed us the snacks she made. They turned out to be cinnamon cookies, which were really good. After we finished eating, Eiji started to lead me upstairs. I'm guessing we were going to his room to discuss the science project.

As Eiji opened his door and walked into his room, I became hesitant, my heart starting to beat faster and faster. This was really weird, EXTREMELY weird. Eiji turned around when he noticed I wasn't following him. He called out my name and waved his hand in front of my face.

"**I'm alright**," I told him, giving him a small smile before slowly stepping into his room. I glanced around noticing the walls in the room were colored a dark red. It was also slightly messy in here. There were some papers and magazines scattered around. Suddenly, I caught a really bad smell; it was like a sweaty odor. And I already knew where it was coming from. I pinched my nose. "**You smell, Eiji-kun!**" I told him.

Eiji looked puzzled before he lifted up his arm, sniffing. He cringed, making me laugh. He knew I was right. Eiji walked over to his dresser, grabbing some normal clothes and telling me that he was going to take a shower or something like that. When he left the room I sighed and released the hold on my nose. Eiji was taking a shower…and I was alone in his room. Joy…now what do I do?

I plopped myself down on Eiji's bed, sinking in it slightly. I put my book bag down on the ground and kicked my feet back and forth, waiting for Eiji to come back. After a while, I laid down on his bed and stuffed my head into his pillows, breathing in his scent. Well, the good smelling one, that is.

Soon enough my eye lids were getting heavy and the next thing I knew I was asleep.

* * *

_**(-Eiji-)**_

Kikumaru Eiji allowed the hot water to run down his body, enjoying it while it lasted. But he wanted to get out quickly, so that he could go back to his room where Boyer Elizabeth waited for him. He wondered what they should do for their science project. Eiji was really excited and happy. He was glad he got paired up with Elizabeth for it, rather than anyone else.

**"Eiji-kun, do you like Boyer-san?"**Eiji blinked, remembering the words that Fuji said the other day. The two were having a nice lunch with Ryoma, Momo and everyone else when Fuji had suddenly asked that. Sure, Eiji did like Elizabeth, they were friends! If he didn't like her then they wouldn't be friends, right? Elizabeth really intrigued Eiji. Suddenly moving to Japan from America, not even learning Japanese… And he was glad she was someone he could share his laughter with, someone he could have loads of fun with when hanging out.

But he was still confused about last night, when she suddenly started crying. He didn't know what to do; he in fact started to freak out on the inside, that is. So he decided to hug her and see if she would calm down. She didn't. She just continued to cry, dampening his shirt…

But Eiji didn't mind.

The once hot water turned to ice cold water, and Eiji's yelp echoed throughout the house.

**"Sis!**" Eiji whined, now in clothes. **"You did that on purpose!"**

Eiji's older sister, Kikumaru Yumi chuckled as she sipped her tea. **"Fu fu fu…And it was fun, indeed."**

Eiji puffed out his cheeks in anger. He opened his mouth to say something back but Sena had decided to cut him off by saying: **"Isn't Boyer-san waiting for you upstairs, Eiji?"**Yumi raised a brow.

**"Boyer-san?"**

Sena nodded. **"Yes, Eiji brought a friend over. You know the Boyer Elizabeth he was talking about the other day."**

Yumi puzzled expression turned into an amused one. **"Really? Well then, I shall go say hi!"**She stood up with Eiji trying to push her back down.

**"I forbid it!"**He exclaimed.

Yumi rolled her eyes. **"Please, Eiji, all I want to do is go say hi to our guest."**She said, slipping past Eiji and running upstairs.

**"Nya, Sis,"**Eiji shouted running after her.

**"Eiji, is Boyer-san staying for dinner?"**Sena asked watching her son and daughter.

**"I'll ask,"**was her sons reply before he disappeared up the steps.

Eiji finally caught his sister in his room, staring at a sleeping Elizabeth on his bed. "Bummer," Yumi crossed her arms. "She's sleeping. I guess I'll just have to wait until she wakes up." Yumi turned her heel, heading out of Eiji's room, but not before stopping by his door and turned back towards him. "Dinner will be ready in an hour, and dad should be home by then." Then, she left.

_**"Nya, she must've been tired…"**_Eiji thought to himself as he sat on the edge of his bed and stared down at Elizabeth. He watched her chest rise up then back down. A light snore could be heard, but it was very quiet. Eiji found it cute. He really wanted to hug her right now, but he didn't want to wake her up. _**"A nap sounds good."**_Eiji thought a moment later. Not finding any harm in it, Eiji laid down next to Elizabeth, noticing how small she was and how big he was. She looked so fragile, like she could break any moment. His face was only inches away; he could feel her hot breath on his face. He liked it. Slowly he slipped an arm around her waist and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of her breathing.

* * *

_**(-Elizabeth-)**_

"**Cute...!**"

"**Yumi, go get the camera!**"

"**Yes**,"

"**Shouldn't we wake them up for dinner?**"

"**Wait until I get a picture. Then you can wake them up for dinner.**"

Voices…what the hell was with the voices? And why were they disturbing my sleep? Wait…aren't I at Eiji's? Ah! Why am I asleep? And what are they talking about being cute and getting the camera? …And why is something hanging over my waist?

I heard a flash go off, and something click.

My eyes snapped open, and my face immediately turned red. Eiji…I was staring right at Eiji's face. His SLEEPING face. His warm breath tickled my nose, and I blushed even more.

"Oh, Boyer-san," I turned my head, only to find Sena and two other people in the room. "You're awake. I'm sorry if we woke you." She apologized while holding a camera.

"N-No, it's all right." I stuttered. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep anyways…" I went to sit up, but was pulled back down by Eiji himself. His right arm was latched around my waist, holding me tight. "Wh-what the-?" I continued to try to pull away, but his grip was so tight!

I heard Sena and the other girl giggle. "**Cute…**" They both whispered to each other.

"Eiji-kun," I started to shake him. "**Eiji-kun, wake up!**"

"Eh…?" Eiji groggily mumbled. His eyes fluttered open, showing his blue colored eyes that I never really noticed before. And now that I remember…what was with the band-aid on his cheek? "Liz-chan…?" He was really out of it.

"**Yes**," I nodded. "**Wake up**,"

He yawned, covering his mouth. Finally I was released from his hold as he sat up. I scrambled off his bed, blushing. Eiji rubbed his eyes and looked around. "Huh?"

Sena laughed and started to speak to Eiji. I wasn't exactly paying attention but the last thing I saw was Eiji blushing before I was grabbed by the other girl in the room.

"**Hello. I am Kikumaru Yumi.**" She greeted me with a warm smile. Yet, there was this some weird glint in her eyes, and I felt like I've seen it before.

"K-Konnichiwa," I bowed respectively. "**I'm Elizabeth Boyer.**"

Yumi grinned. "**It's nice to meet you, Cute-Elizabeth-san!**"

I nodded in reply. Eiji was finally fully awake and his mom left the room, along with the older man who I was guessing to be his dad and Yumi left too, telling us that dinner was ready and to come down stairs. Eiji stood up and stretched. I noticed that he was wearing normal clothes. A white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He wasn't wearing any socks nor was he wearing those slippers anymore.

The two of us walked down stairs and he showed me to the kitchen again, where a fairly large table with several chairs was. Yumi and Eiji's dad were already sitting down. Sena was still putting food on the table. Eiji spoke to his mom for a moment; I think he was asking where everyone else was. …Wait…how many people live with Eiji?

I kept that thought to myself as Eiji dragged me over to the table and sat me down next to him and across from his dad and I'm guessing sister, and probably older too. Eiji's dad folded his news paper up and placed it next to his plate on the table. He looked over to me with a smile. He greeted me the same way Yumi did, but also adding that he was Eiji's father, like I had guessed. I greeted him the same way I did to Yumi earlier as well. Sena walked over and sat down next to me, explaining something Ryu-Eiji's dad.

"Sorry, but I'm the only one out of my family that knows how to speak English. I was just telling my husband about how you're still learning Japanese." Sena smiled at me.

"Oh, okay."

"Now, dig in, Boyer-san. I made this dinner especially for you tonight. So I hope you like it." I smiled happily, and did so.

I really loved having dinner with Eiji's family, even though a few of them weren't there from what I was told. Sena suggested that Eiji and I should just do something simple for our science project, to which we both agreed to. She suggested we should do a volcano, and Eiji seemed excited.

After dinner Eiji and I went back up to his room, where I started writing down the ingredients to make the volcano. I looked it up on his laptop first, and figured that we would have to go buy some of them. "Eiji-kun…" I explained it to him and asked when he would like to go back into town so we could go shopping. He decided we should do it tomorrow.

It was nine pm by the time I decided to go home. Eiji offered to take me home, so I allowed him. We both walked side-by-side in the dark, the street lights were the only lights we really had. I thanked Eiji for walking me home when we got there. Eiji soon left back to his house and I walked into mine, kicking my shoes off and walking into the living room where my aunt and uncle were. They greeted me with a hello and asked how my day was. I told them all about it then left to go take a shower. After I took a shower I went straight to bed, smiling.

* * *

It's been a whole week now. The progress on the volcano was going well. I went over to Eiji's every day after school sometimes staying for dinner and sometimes not.

Today was Friday. And I had nothing planned for tomorrow. Neither did any of my friends, from what I know at least. I know Lucy said she wasn't going to do anything, as did Miki.

Oh, and my Japanese has really improved! Thanks to the help of my friends and Aunt Jenny.

I was currently sitting under a sakura tree, near the tennis courts. I watched Eiji and the rest of the Regulars practice, with some girls from a couple of my classes and some girls I didn't know cheering on Ryoma from what I knew. Sakuno and Tomoka were in that crowed of girls, too. And then there were those three strange boys I saw once in a while. I never really talked to them before, not like I really need to or anything.

"Enjoying yourself, Boyer-san?" Miki asked, pushing up her glasses.

"Yes, I am. I really enjoy watching them practice." I replied.

"Or more like she enjoys watching Eiji run around in his hot sweaty-." Lucy was cut off by a smack upside the head courtesy of Keitaro.

"Oh, shut up. Don't taint her mind." He said in a low growl.

Lucy glared daggers at Keitaro and cracked her knuckles. "You're looking for a beating buddy!"

Keitaro scoffed. "I'm not scared of you anymore, shorty."

"…RAWR!"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Keitaro screamed as he jumped behind Shinji, hoping he would protect him.

Lucy smirked, satisfied. "Yeah, you're definitely not scared of me anymore." She laughed.

I sweat dropped at my two friends. Then I noticed that Eiji was calling my name. I turned around and watched at Eiji and everyone else-minus Tezuka, Oishi, Kaidoh and Inui- walk over to us. Eiji spoke to me, which Miki translated for me.

"He said that tomorrow they will be practicing at some courts across town, and asked if we would like to come and watch. Or just simply hang out." Miki shrugged.

"You guys even practice on the weekends?" I asked.

"Saa, we don't practice every day. Just most of the time. We have one week left before the Tokyo Tournament." Fuji replied.

"Eh? Really?"

He nodded.

"Hm, well sure. I'll go with you guys tomorrow!" I happily agreed.

My friends also agreed to go as well. So now, I did have plans tomorrow. That made me happy.

"Ah!" Lucy gasped. "I forgot all about my mission!" Narrowing her eyes at Fuji she began to mutter. "I need to think of something for tomorrow…"

I sweat dropped again. Oh boy, I wonder how this'll turn out…

* * *

**LP8:** Yes, long chapter. We apologize if you hate that.

**Bloodpuppy:**I don't!

**LP8:** You don't count!

**Bloodpuppy:** Aw…

**LP8:** Anyways, we would like to thank: **PhoenixRage92, Shino Kouba, .67, mewmewlover23, magic126, LadyShinkukaze, and Roseko-chan.** Thank you all for reviewing. And we hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I would've updated a bit sooner than later, but the power cord to my laptop died and now I'm waiting for my new on to arrive. And half of what I DID write for this chapter was on my laptop, but sadly, I couldn't get on it because IT died without the power cord, etc, etc. So I had to start over again. Oh, and I randomly made up names and all that other stuff for Eiji's family 'cause I had no idea what their names were or anything =D So, yeah. And that whole 'falling asleep together' thing was because I was watching this really sad romantic movie at the time. T.T

**Bloodpuppy:**…What she said!

Anyway, please leave and review and we'll update soon.

Bye-bye!

_**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**_


	18. Chapter 18: Let The Rain Fall

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Bee-._

I slammed my hand down on my alarm clock. I swear that I almost broke it. The thing annoyed me to no end.

I groggily sat up on my bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. It was finally Saturday. Today was the day I was going to go hang out with Eiji and everyone at some tennis courts across town.

I hopped out of bed and made my way to my dresser, looking through varieties of clothes. "I wonder what I should wear…Something…cute?" I said to myself. Wait. Since when did I ever care about what I wore? I'm losing it. I'm finally losing it.

I shrugged to myself and decided I would eat breakfast first, and then worry about my clothes. So I walked down stairs, in my light blue silky pajamas, and into the kitchen where I was greeted by the smell of bacon and coffee. My stomach growled in hunger when the smell of bacon hit my nose.

"Good morning," I greeted my uncle, who sat in his usual spot at the table, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and the newspaper in the other.

"Good morning, Elizabeth. Did you sleep well?" He placed the newspaper on the table and closed his eyes as he sipped his coffee.

"Yes, I did." I replied with a small nod. I watched as my uncle got up from the table and went to move the bacon on the frying pan. "Uncle James, where is Aunt Jenny?" I questioned, noticing that my aunt wasn't around nor was she cooking the bacon.

"Your aunt went to her check-up. It was today, you know. I would've gone with her, but she told me to stay home and make sure you get some breakfast before you leave." Uncle James replied, picking up a couple of bacon pieces with his spatula and putting them on a plate before handing it over to me. I grabbed the plate from his hands and placed it on the table and sat down in front of it, picking up a piece.

"She didn't go alone, did she?" I asked as I took a bite out of my bacon, chewing then swallowing.

"No, Jun-san went with her." Uncle James said, also chewing on a piece of bacon.

I smiled. "I'm so happy for Aunt Jenny. You and her always wanted a child of your own, right?"

Uncle James happily nodded. "Yes, it's always been a dream of us. But we had put it off for a while because of work and a whole bunch of other stuff. This was actually a…surprise. We weren't even prepared." He explained to me.

"I've noticed. Oh, where will the baby be sleeping, once he or she is born?"

"I'll be making another room, across from yours."

"So, I can see the baby anytime I want?"

"Yup," Uncle James grinned.

"Hooray!" I cheered, dropping the piece of bacon back onto my plate.

My uncle laughed and suggested that I should finish eating so that I could take a shower before Miki and everyone else came to pick me up. I quickly ate my bacon or as my uncle said I 'inhaled' it, and run upstairs to the shower. Closing the door behind me, I locked it and turned on the water to the shower. Once the water was the right temperature I stripped myself from my clothes and stepped in, letting the warm water soothe me. Once I finished soaping up my hair and shaved whatever I needed to shave, I jumped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around me. I unlocked the bathroom door and poked my head out, looking down both of the hallways. After making sure it was clear I ran into my room and slammed the door.

"All right, now I need to find some clot—."

"-Liz-chan~."

I yelped and fell backwards with a loud thump.

"You moron, you scared her."

"I didn't mean to!"

"Ow…" I groaned.

"Are you alright, Boyer-san?" I opened my eyes only to stare right into Miki's.

"Miki?" I then looked around my room. "Lucy? Shinji? Keitaro? Aren't you four kind of early…?"

"We thought the earlier the better." Shinji replied, smiling coyly.

My other three friends shot a glare at him. "You mean YOU thought that." They each chorused in deadly tones.

I sweat dropped. "R-Right…" I grabbed hold of Miki's hand and was pulled up when I suddenly realized I was still in a towel…and there were two BOYS in my room. "Kyaaa!" I screamed, tightening the towel around me. "Keitaro! Shinji! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"

That's when the two also realized, and they blushed, and I'm pretty sure they both had blood dripping down from their nose. Since they both were in shock, I asked Lucy to kick them out, which she was quite happy to do so by literally KICKING them out. She slammed the door behind herself and smiled satisfyingly.

"Thanks, Lucy." I sighed in relief.

Lucy hugged me from behind. "No problem! Hey…" I blinked before I suddenly felt something fondling my breasts. I shivered with wide eyes. "They're bigger than I thought they were. Huh, I guess it's just your uniform that you wear that makes them look small." Lucy continued to fondle my breasts.

"Gah!" I jumped five feet, giving Lucy an irritated look. "Why were you fondling my breasts?"

Lucy shrugged. "Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a lesbian or anything if that's what you're thinking. I was just curious as to how big they were. Mine are small…" Lucy pouted as she poked at her left breast. "I want bigger breasts!"

"No, you don't." Miki piped in. I glanced over at Miki, suddenly noticing that she was wearing normal clothes instead of our school uniform. It was weird to see her wearing clothes other than our uniform, to tell you the truth. But I've got to say, she looks really good in purple. Her clothes were plain and simple. A dark blue pair of skinny jeans and a dark purple long-sleeved shirt, she wore no accessories.

Now as for Lucy, she wore a simple white tank-top with black knee-high shorts. I was surprised to see her without her millions of bracelets on each of her wrists. And the only necklace she wore was the one that she had gotten from her cousin who died.

"Boyer-san," I looked over at Miki. "I don't want to sound offensive or anything. You have a very good looking body, but I think I'd rather see you in clothes than a towel." My face turned red from embarrassment. I had completely forgotten about my little 'situation'. I asked the two of them to turn around while I dressed myself, and they both were happy to do so. I grabbed underwear and a bra and proceeded to put them on. Once they were on, I began to look for some cloths. I wanted something simple, like Miki and Lucy's, but I also wanted something cute to wear at the same time. I cursed under my breath as I could not find anything like that to wear. I let out a loud and depressing sigh, which gained the attention of Miki and Lucy.

"What's wrong?" They asked, continuing to face the wall.

"I really want to find something simple, but cute to wear." I replied.

"I'll help you!" Lucy piped up. "I can make you look sexy!"

"She said simple and cute. Not sexy you dolt," Miki said.

"What the hell does 'dolt' mean?"

"Must I explain EVERYTHING to you?"

"Yes,"

I sighed again. "You guys…"

"Sorry," They both apologized.

"It's fine. But can you two please help me look for something to wear?"

Lucy turned around and saluted me. "Yes, ma'am. Operation: Help Liz-chan find simple BUT cute clothes, in action!"

Miki turned around, and rolled her eyes. "Dolt,"

"Seriously! What. Does. That. Mean?"

I sighed again. I had a feeling I would be sighing a lot today…

* * *

It only took Miki and Lucy five minutes to pick out an outfit for me. Miki had chosen the shirt. A sleeveless dark pink and white stripped shirt. Lucy had then pulled out dark blue short that went a little bit above my knees.

"Not bad," I commented, twirling around.

"You look really good in pink; did you know that, Liz-chan?" Lucy nodded her head approval.

"It does compliment your eyes." Miki added.

I blushed. "Thanks you two…"

"I know!" Lucy exclaimed, pointing her index finger in the air. "We should put your hair up! You always have it down and it's always covering your pretty face! I have a pink scrunchy in my pocket. C'mere!" I did as Lucy said and walked over to her. She ordered me to sit on the edge of my bed while she sat behind me. I allowed her to mess with my hair, and she ended up putting it up in a high pony tail, with just one strand of my curly hair falling down in front of my face.

I narrowed my eyes over at Miki who was watching Lucy put in her 'finishes touches', she observed me for quite some time before opening her mouth, and saying: "Boyer-san, do you have a tennis racket?"

"No…I never played sports before. I only watched them on TV with my dad when he wasn't busy with work…" I replied. I lowered my eyes a bit to the ground.

Miki stood up and pulled out a PDA from her pocket. "Well, since we are going with the Regular's to tennis courts, I wouldn't just like to watch. I would actually like to play some tennis." Using her stylus, Miki poked around on her PDA, and then glanced over at me. "Do you mind if we make a quick stop before heading over to the train station?"

"I don't mind." Miki nodded her head as she placed her PDA back into her pants pocket. "Philips-san, hurry it up, please. Fujiwaka-san and Kihara-san are waiting out the door for us. We need to go."

"Whatever," Lucy scoffed from behind. "I'm done anyways." Hoping off my bed, I smiled at Miki and Lucy before walking out the door. Keitaro and Shinji were no where in sight, so I guessed they had gone down stairs. So the three of us headed down stairs and into the living room where Keitaro and Shinji sat on the couch, waiting patiently. When they took notice of us they grabbed whatever they had with them and walked over to us.

"Ready?" Keitaro questioned.

"Yup," I replied with a nod.

And so the five of us headed out!

* * *

"Here we are,"

I looked up at the small sign that happened to be in Japanese, obviously considering this is Japan. I looked over to Miki who was walking into the store, so I followed her. Lucy, Keitaro and Shinji told me they would wait outside while the two of us did whatever. A small bell went off when we entered, and then stopped when the door had shut. I immediately recognized this place as a tennis shop.

"What are we doing here?" I asked, glancing around.

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to buy you a tennis racquet." Miki replied. She pushed her glasses up with the middle of her finger and gestured me over to the tennis racquets that were perched on the wall.

"Uh, oh, okay…" I stuttered as I looked over the many racquets. I didn't know which one to choose!

"**May I help you?**"

"Eh…?" I blinked, turning around to face a boy not much older than Miki and I.

"**We're fine, thank you.**" Miki bowed respectively to him.

"**All right, tell me if you need anything.**" He said, giving us a smile and walking back over to the counter.

I turned to Miki and tilted my head to the side. "What was that all about?"

"If you've been studying your Japanese like I told you to then you should know."

"Huh? But you never told me t-."

"-I left all those books for you. It should've been obvious."

"I thought you left them for the next lesson…"

Miki sighed and rubbed her temples in frustration. "Anyway…Just pick a racquet and let's go. We don't want to miss our train."

I sighed and nodded. Then I turned back to the tennis racquets, carefully going over each one. My eyes fixed on a purple one, with a little black heart in the middle of the handle. I found that really interesting, and I was drawn to it.

"Is that the one you want?"

I nodded and allowed Miki to pull me over to the counter where she purchased my racquet. Once my racquet was paid for we left the shop and met up with Lucy, Shinji and Keitaro. After talking for a minute and showing them my racquet we left.

* * *

_**(-Tennis Courts-)**_

"Okay…where were we supposed to meet up with the others?" Keitaro questioned as he crossed his arms and glanced around, possibly looking for Eiji and the others.

We ended up seeing Momo and Ryoma, sitting down on a bench. They both wore casual clothes, since according to Fuji they will be practicing as a team, but they will also be doing this to have some fun before the tournament. Momo and Lucy immediately started talking and they both even got into some argument. I was only able to catch a few things they were saying to each other.

"Hoi, hoi! Liz-chan, nya~!"

I immediately recognized the voice. "Eiji-kun," I happily said as I turned around in time to see Eiji run over to me and latch on to me. I giggled and hugged him back. After a moment or so, Eiji pulled away, but continued to latch onto me. I raised a brow at him when I caught him examining me. "**What are you doing…?**"

"**Nya! Liz-chan, you're so cute!**" Eiji squealed and hugged me again.

I blushed. Eiji called me cute…Well, it wasn't the first time. He called me cute when we first met, too, but why did it affect me so much this time? It felt like my face was overheating!

"**Th-thank you…**" I mumbled thanks in reply.

"Ah! Fuji Syusuke!" The little moment was interrupted and my face went back to normal as I looked over Eiji's shoulder to see Lucy pointed her finger at Fuji in shock and anger. "**I will destroy you!**"

Fuji smiled at Lucy. "**Saa, nice to see you again, Philips-san,**"

"**Screw you!**"

"Oh boy…" Miki sighed. "Well, I'm going ahead. You all should hurry up soon too. I'm sure the others are already here." Miki said as she walked further into the tennis courts. We all followed not long after. Well, Lucy was dragged, really…

We immediately spotted the others: Tezuka, Kaidoh, Taka, Oishi, and Inui. We were greeted with friendly hellos from each of them-minus Kaidoh and Tezuka that is. Eiji went to cling onto Oishi for a while as they prepared themselves.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and it turned out to be Miki who then pointed to some empty courts. "Boyer-san, would you like to have a match against me?" Against…Miki?

"Eh? But I don't know how to play really…" I rubbed my left arm, feeling slightly embarrassed and nervous.

"That's why I asked you for a match. Come on, I believe you'll like it." Miki gestured towards the courts again. After a moment I finally nodded, agreeing to give it a try. I felt everyone's eyes on Miki and me as we headed over to the courts.

"Ah," Miki stopped and turned towards me. "Let me teach you a little about your grip on your racquet." She held up her dark blue tennis racquet and pointed to the handle. "The grip on your racquet is an important aspect in your tennis play. You should grip the tennis racquet loosely between strokes, but when you are about to swing, it is better to tighten your hold. Got it?" I nodded. "Good, now stand on the other side of the courts." I did as Miki told me to and walked over to the other side. "Ready?" I nodded again, gripping my racquet and bending my knees a little. "All right, it's coming your way." Wait, I don't remember Miki having that tennis ball in her hand befo-AH!

"You're not supposed to duck!"

"I'm sorry, but it was just so sudden!"

Miki sighed in frustration. "Let's try this again. This time do not duck. We're playing a real game here, but I'm letting you off the hook for the last one." I nodded, feeling like some sort of obedient dog. Miki held up another tennis ball and then threw it up in the air. I watched as it came down closer to Miki and then as she swung her racquet forward, hitting the tennis ball. I gulped. I went to hit it but ended up tripping over my own two feet and falling to the ground, my racquet sliding across the court.

"Fifteen-love," Miki announced.

I sadly sighed. I stood up and grabbed my racquet off the ground, and then I dusted off my shorts and shirt. Then suddenly, out of the corner of my eyes I saw Eiji watching me, along with everyone else. I blushed in complete embarrassment, realizing that Eiji had just seen my utter fail.

"Anata wa dekimasu, Liz-chan!"

I blinked my eyes rapidly. Did Eiji just cheer me on? I glanced over at Eiji who grinned from behind the fence and gave me a peace sign. I smiled and gave him a peace sign back. And now, I felt like I had some new found hope.

All right! Miki, here I come!

* * *

Little beads of sweat slowly slid down my forehead, and my breathing was ragged. My heart pounded against my chest and my arms and legs ached, but that didn't keep me from running to the left side of my court to hit the ball back at Miki. Miki countered by hitting the ball back to me. I quickly ran towards it, but ended up falling to my knees. I couldn't run anymore. I was too tired. And the sun was burning my skin. I…I think I had enough.

I listened to the sound of a racquet dropping to the ground, and then a pair of feet running towards me. Miki bent down next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I could see worry in her dark eyes.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

I nodded. "Y-yeah…" I went to stand up, but my legs felt like jello so I ended up falling back down, but Miki had caught me in time.

"I think that's enough for you today. I'll take you over to the bench and get you something to drink." Miki offered. I nodded, not complaining as Miki helped me to my feet and walked me out of the court and over to a bench. After I was able to sit down she left to go find a vending machine.

"Liz-chan, nya," Eiji bounced over to me. "**You were awesome!**"

"Arigato, Eiji-kun," I chuckled.

Momo appeared behind me and roughly patted my back, almost making me fall off the bench. "**Not bad!**"

Lucy walked up to Momo and started rambling on about something. Momo started to argue back with her, but I was only able to catch the words: Amateur and you're on. And then after that, the two raced to the courts.

"What are they doing?" I asked to no one in particular.

"They're going to have a match against each other." Keitaro said then sighed. "They both are so competitive…"

"Well, can you move out of the way? I want to see." I pushed Keitaro to the side and watched as the tennis courts that Momo and Lucy currently occupied started to heat up. I swear that I saw some sort of fiery background behind both of them as they hit the ball with fast speed back and forth. "I can barely keep up with the ball." I commented, rubbing my sore eyes.

"**Wow,**" Eiji exclaimed.

Eventually the two stopped. Both of them were breathing heavily and still holding their racquets in their hands. Lucy dropped to the ground, cursing to herself.

"Dammit, I lost." Then she told Momo that she gives up, but will challenge him again. Momo nodded and told her he would be waiting for that day, and that she was a very challenging opponent.

"Eh? Fuji-san, what's wrong? You look mad…" I turned my head to where Shinji stood next to Fuji. Shinji was right. Fuji did look a little mad. His smile was no longer there, it was replaced by a frown, and he was clenching his hands shut. But after Shinji said that, Fuji's smile returned and he unclenched his hands.

"Nothing, I was just thinking." He replied.

"Okay…" Shinji backed down.

Well that was weird. I wonder what Fuji could've been thinking of to make him look mad.

From behind me, I heard Tezuka speak up. He said that the Regular's needed to practice now and he sent them all to run laps. Miki then finally returned with my drink.

"How are you feeling?" She asked me while watching as I gulped down my water. When I finished I pulled it away and sighed in relief, then placed the cap back on.

"Better. I just needed a little rest, that's all."

"Good,"

"Hey! Kei-chan! Let's go run laps!"

"I don't want to go with you! And I told you only Liz-chan can call me that!"

"Too damn bad! Now let's go!"

"Noooo~!"

And so, Keitaro was dragged off by Lucy. Never to be seen again. Maybe, that is.

* * *

Watching everyone practice was pretty entertaining. Inui even offered me one of those drinks again. Eiji had freaked out when I drank it. And I mean he freaked out. He wanted to take me to a hospital. But I eventually got him to settle down, and then I offered him some of the drink. He had hid behind Oishi…

It was a lot of fun hanging out with them all. I knew a lot more about them than I had before. Usually it was just quick talks between us, but now I really got to know Eiji's and Fuji's friends. Momo was pretty cool. He said he was going to help me out with my tennis. Ryoma even talked to me a bit, and kept muttering this "Mada mada dane" at me sometimes. I wondered what it meant, so I had asked Miki. I really wanted to punch Ryoma…

Lucy had tried to hurt Fuji, with tennis balls. She had declared a 'duel' against Fuji and Taka. She ended up dragging Keitaro, against his will, into it as her doubles partner. But the only thing Lucy did was hit the balls AT Fuji, who had to dodge each and every one of them. Keitaro eventually pulled Lucy away from the courts…

I also saw another side of Taka! He seemed to get really fired up when he had a tennis racquet in his hand…

The sun was starting to set, so we were packing up to leave when quite a few stomachs growled. Taka then suggested that we should stop by his dad's sushi shop and grab some dinner. We all agreed and followed.

Taka showed me around the place and introduced me to his dad, who was a very nice guy. After ordering our sushi, it didn't take long to get it. I was happily eating my sushi when I saw Eiji slowly lean away from Fuji, making a disgusted look on his face.

"**Are you alright?**" I questioned, raising a brow.

Fuji chuckled. "Saa, Eiji-kun doesn't like wasabi."

"Oh?"

That's when a piece of sushi was taken off my plate. "Hey!" I exclaimed, turning to glare at the culprit who turned out to be none other than Momo. So, in revenge I grabbed a piece of sushi off his plate.

"Oi!"

I stuck my tongue out at him.

He stuck his back out at me.

"Nya," I heard Eiji before he also grabbed a piece of sushi off my plate. Then I listened to him as he said something about he didn't know I was 'sharing'.

"Eiji-kun~," I whined.

Suddenly Momo grabbed my plate off the table and held it high in the air, announcing to everyone that there was plenty of my sushi to go around. I jumped up from my seat and tried to reach for my sushi.

"**You're so mean, Takeshi-san!**"

Momo tapped his finger on my nose with his free hand, and told me to call him 'Momo-kun'. "Momo-kun," I continued to try to reach for my sushi. Momo was now laughing, saying that I was really short.

Eiji got up from his seat and grabbed another piece of sushi off my plate with his chop sticks, plopping it into his mouth and chewing happily. My mouth dropped to the ground as I was in shock. Eiji was teasing me too! I couldn't believe it.

Eiji laughed and hugged me, calling me cute again. I blushed, which made Momo point that out in front of everyone, making me blush harder.

Suddenly a phone went off. It turned out to be Lucy's. Lucy answered and walked outside, nodding her head most of the time. After a few minutes she walked back in and grabbed her red tennis racquet.

"I've got to go. Two of my younger siblings have fevers, and my parents aren't home and my damn older siblings have to work. So I gotta go take care of them." Then she turned towards me. "See you at school, tomorrow, Liz-chan!" After that she left, leaving a bit of money behind.

"It's getting pretty dark out…" I said, forgetting about my sushi which Momo was currently eating with Ryoma temporarily. "I hope she'll be fine on her own."

Fuji stood up and grabbed his tennis bag. "I'll be going too," he said, then also told the others. After that he left as well.

"Huh…" I mumbled to myself.

"Hey! Momo-kun! Echizen-san! You better be ordering me more sushi!"

* * *

_**(-Lucy-)**_

"Man, it's dark out already, huh…" I muttered to myself, looking up at the night sky. There were so many stars! And the moon was really bright. It was absolutely gorgeous out right now. If I didn't have to hurry home, I would take my time to enjoy the view, but I knew I had to get back. I couldn't trust my younger siblings to stay alone in the house for very long.

"Philips-san," I blinked my blue eyes and turned around, only to have them immediately glare at the person who walked my way, wearing his same old smile that irritated the shit out of me. I was ready to punch him.

"What do you want, Fuji-san?" I questioned, venom pouring out of those words.

"I thought I'd walk you home. It's pretty dark out and not very safe for a girl to walk home alone." He replied.

I scoffed and crossed my arms, turning away. "No. Thank. You. I am fine by myself." I continued to walk, only to trip over my own two feet a couple seconds later. "Ow…" I groaned, rubbing my forehead. The sound of feet pounding against the side walk got closer and closer until it stopped right next to me. Fuji held his hand out to me, smiling. I glared back. "I can get up on my own!" I exclaimed in anger, standing up and pushing his hand away. "I'm not a little kid…" I then muttered and dusted my clothes off.

"Saa, I never said you were."

"Shut up!" I narrowed my eyes before sighing. "Fine, you can follow me to make sure I won't get into any trouble. But that's it. I don't want anyone I know to think you're like my boyfriend or anything…" I swear I felt my cheeks go red after that last part.

Fuji nodded and followed me behind a few paces. It was a bit weird knowing that he was there. In fact, it felt like I was being stalked. Damn, that's just creepy. Maybe it was a bad idea letting him follow me because now it felt like I really was in danger. …Damn Fuji.

It was silent between the two of us as we strolled through the empty sidewalk and towards the neighborhood, which didn't take long to enter. I glanced back and forth at a crosswalk before running to the other side. Fuji took his sweet time, but I didn't wait for him, I just continued on.

I started to think back at the others, I kind of felt bad for leaving all of a sudden, but family comes first, truthfully.

I came to a stop when I found myself next to my driveway. Lights were on and I could see little figures running around inside. I turned towards Fuji who stopped as well.

"This is my house. Cya," I said, walking up to my door. Like I was really going to say thanks to him. I didn't even want him there! But no, my little nice side HAD to kick in, didn't it?

"See you tomorrow, Philips-san." I heard Fuji utter. My hand froze in mid-air when I went to reach for the doorknob. I listened as Fuji's footsteps disappeared around another corner. It was silent now, more silent than it was when Fuji was walking behind me. My gaze dropped to my feet and I let my long pink hair slid over my face. What was this…feeling? I didn't have this when Fuji was there, but now that he was gone I felt…strange.

A large gust of wind blew my hair around as I muttered the words: "Whatever," And made my way inside where I was greeted by being thrown to the ground by multiple kids. "Dammit! GET OFF ME YOU LITTLE MIDGETS!"

* * *

_**(-Elizabeth-)**_

I was saying good-bye to all my friends when Momo had put me in a headlock, telling me to drop by at the schools tennis courts again sometime. I told him I would, which was the only way to get him to let me go.

Eiji offered to walk me home again. I accepted. And we all parted ways. Everyone took a short cut while Eiji and I took the long way back to my house.

"**Thanks for inviting me and my friends. We had a lot of fun today.**" I thanked him.

"**You're welcome,**" Eiji replied.

I opened my mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by a loud sound of…thunder? And then there was a bright flash coming from the sky, and the next thing I knew it was pouring down rain. "Wh-what the?" I exclaimed, throwing my arms on top of my head. It was just clear a moment ago, and now there were dark clouds!

"Ah!" Eiji frowned. "**It's raining,**" I frowned as well. This was not how I wanted to walk home with Eiji.

A small gasp escaped my lips as I felt Eiji wrap his hand around mine, telling me to hurry up. We ran through the rain, looking for shelter. Every shop was already closed up, so we decided to continue to my house. We made it their in no time and walked inside. Water dripped onto the floor from my hair as I kicked off my shoes. Eiji followed suit. Soaking wet, I walked into the kitchen where I found my aunt and uncle looking out the window, watching the rain fall.

"Uwaa," My aunt mumbled. "It's coming down so hard. I can't believe it started raining all of a sudden…Do you think it'll stop soon?"

My uncle shrugged. "It's bound to. Possibly by tomorrow morning,"

"…I'm home…"

My aunt and uncle both turned around, and smiled when they took notice of me, but frowned when they noticed I was soaking wet.

"Sorry," I apologized. "We were walking back when it started raining all of a sudden."

My uncle raised a brow. "'We'?" He repeated.

"Oh," I gasped in realization. "Uhm, well, Eiji-kun decided to walk me home again…" That's when Eiji poked his head through the door way.

Aunt Jenny clapped her hands together, sparkles in her eyes. "Look, honey! Lizzy brought a boy home!" Uncle James twitched.

"Uhm, can Eiji-kun stay here until the storm dies down?" I asked.

"Of course he can!" Aunt Jenny said, latching onto Eiji's arm and dragging him into the kitchen, much to my uncle's dismay. Aunt Jenny introduced herself and my uncle to Eiji, who then introduced himself to my aunt and uncle. "He's so cute, Lizzy! Where did you find him?" She asked me, pinching Eiji's cheek.

I blinked, not really knowing how to answer her question. "My…school?"

"And how long have you two been dating?" My eyes widened. And my uncle almost choked on his drink.

"We're not dating, Aunt Jenny! He's just a friend!" I replied quickly. Eiji looked absolutely confused at to what was going on.

Aunt Jenny sighed sadly, not liking my answer. "Fine, fine, whatever you say. Now, sweetie, go find some clothes in your uncle's closet for Kikumaru-san. And change as well while you're up there." I nodded and left to go upstairs.

* * *

**LP8:** A bit of a random chapter, but I like it. I thought it was time for a little FujixLucy, so I threw that in randomly. Hope you all enjoyed it. I wrote this chapter to satisfy everyone for now, seeing as how I'll be real busy next month, and who knows when I'll update again. Hopefully, it won't be too long of a wait. Since I still have a bit of free time right now, I might write the next bit of the next chapter.

**Bloodpuppy:** -_Stuffs food in her mouth-_Mumph, mph!

**LP8:** Oh right. We would like to thank: **PhoenixRage92, Shino Kouba, Kris 77, Princess-Lazy-Chan, CatgirlKitsune, FleurSuoh, .67, and mewmewlover23**, for reviewing. Thank you!

**Bloodpuppy:** _-Keeps mumbling something no one understands-_

**LP8: **We'll try and update soon, but May is coming up soon and I'll be really busy. So who knows…Anyway…

Cya next chapter!

_**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**_


	19. Chapter 19: Regular's vs Regular's

I ended up finding some clothes for Eiji. The only problem was the pants. They were way too big for him. I practically trashed my aunt and uncles room before I found a belt. But in the end, they still were a bit too big. But Eiji said he would be fine, even after my protests to get him something to help keep them up better. I eventually gave up when my aunt suggested that we should go up to my room and work on our science project until the storm dies down.

Before that Eiji went to make a quick call to his parents, while I stood next to the stairs wondering: How would we work on our science project when it's already complete and at Eiji's house?

Eiji eventually came back and when he did he dragged me upstairs, saying something about getting to see my room. While from down stairs in the kitchen, I heard my uncle shout not to close my door, while Aunt Jenny shouted to close the door. Confusing relatives…

I closed it anyways.

"**This is my room…**" I said, motioning my hand around as Eiji looked over everything.

Eiji continued to walk around, looking over things with a smile. I think he was happy to see what my room looked like, for some weird reason. I told Eiji to make himself at home and he sat on my bed, and then the next thing I knew he was staring at the picture on my desk.

The picture of my parents…

"**Who are they?**"

I let out a sigh as I softly mumbled. "**My parents,**" and fumbled with the hem of my shirt.

Eiji's eyes beamed with excitement. "**I want to meet Liz-chan's parents, nya!**" He asked.

I tightened my grip on the hem of my shirt. "**You can't…**" I said.

Eiji blinked and tilted his head to the side in confusion, standing up. "**Why not?**"

"**Because they're dead.**"

Silence corrupted the two of us, only the sound of thunder and the rain hitting the roof could be heard. I glanced to the side before looking at Eiji with a big smile. I told him not to get all sad or anything and I walked over to him, but I tripped over my own feet and fell into his arms. Making him fall on the bed. For some reason I heard the sound of fabric falling off skin. I looked down at the ground and too my horror, my uncle's pants were on the ground.

"Lizzy, Eiji? Would you gu-"my aunt started but was interrupted by the sight of us two. "I'll just leave you two alone." She laughed nervously closing the door.

My face turned bright red. I looked down at Eiji whose face was also bright red. The two of us stared at each other, not moving, slowly taking in what was happening. Then, when I was able to move I quickly scurried off and into a corner. Eiji quickly got up, pulling the pants back on. But before they were fully on I noticed the boxers he wore. They were pink…with red hearts. That's not weird at all!

…Okay, maybe it is.

"**Sorry!**" I exclaimed, shielding my eyes.

Eiji also sent me an apology. I don't know how long it took, but it took us a while to go back to become comfortable around each other once again. Eiji made sure to keep a tight grip on his pants…

We engaged in a conversation about cats and tennis…

About ten minutes into the conversation, a knock was heard.

"Come in!" I called out.

The knob turned and the door clicked open. Uncle James walked in, holding a fairly large plate and a couple of tea cups on it. You could see the steam coming from inside the cups, so I was guessing that Aunt Jenny had made us some tea.

"Your aunt made you both some tea." Uncle James announced, mainly to me, as he placed the plate down on my desk and handed Eiji and I both a cup. Eiji happily thanked my uncle as he left, taking one last peek at Eiji and me before hesitantly closing the door behind him. I carefully took a sip of my tea, making sure not to burn my tongue, when all of a sudden I heard Eiji yelp, nearly making me drop my cup.

"**Eiji-kun, what's wrong-?**" I didn't even finish my sentence as I blinked several times and tried to stifle a laugh. I pointed out to Eiji that he looked like a cute puppy dog now! And he did, especially when he was hanging his tongue out like one, after burning his tongue on his tea. I ended up giggling as Eiji pulled back in his tongue and sat his tea down on the plate.

"**So mean, nya!**" Eiji whined and pouted.

"**Sorry,**" I giggled once more, then patted him on the head, before I started to giggle again.

Eiji stuck his tongue out at me.

A loud sound of thunder made me jump, but only because it surprised me. I glanced out my window and sighed. The storm didn't look like it was getting any better or was going to anytime soon. Eiji also pointed that out, just as my aunt came in.

She offered Eiji to stay the night, which he agreed to. Since we didn't have any extra rooms, Aunt Jenny said he could stay on the couch. I turned back towards the window.

"I hope it clears up for school tomorrow…" I mumbled to myself.

"School?" Aunt Jenny piped up. "You don't have school tomorrow because tomorrow is Sunday." I blinked. Aunt Jenny was right. Tomorrow was Sunday. How could I forget that? Man…I hope Lucy would figure that out, since I clearly remember her telling me she would see me at school tomorrow…

"Oh…right…" I said, blushing a bit in embarrassment. "Err…**I think I'll go to bed now.**" I said, facing Eiji, who nodded and replied that he would too.

Aunt Jenny led Eiji down stairs, grabbing some blankets and pillows from the hallway closet. I watched them disappear before closing my door and lying on my bed, looking up at the ceiling as I thought to myself and listened to the sound of thunder erupting and the sound of rain hitting the roof, non-stop…

I eventually fell asleep to those sounds.

* * *

_I was standing there…Possibly in the middle of a highway. It seemed to be that I had lost all my sense except sight, for I could only move my eyes and my head around. It felt like eternity before anything actually happened._

_Many cars passed by me, no matter how close they were to hitting me, all they did was seem to go right through me, as if I wasn't really there._

_Suddenly, I heard the sound of tires screeching against the road coming closer and closer, and the next thing I knew, this red car blew right passed me._

_It was squealing on the road upside down._

_It began to slide across the ground, before coming to a halt. Other tires screeched on the road, stopping and people running out. Some people were on their cell phones, dialing 911. All I did was stay there, trying to remember where I had once seen that car. Even with all the dents and scratches I knew I saw that car before. Many…Many times before…_

_Then, I remembered..._

_It was my parent's car._

_I stood there and watched in horror as my parents died painfully and slowly._

_Why was I seeing this? Why couldn't I close my eyes, even though I wanted to so badly?_

_Everything started to fade to black._

_And I screamed. I screamed until my lungs ached from the lack of air. And floods of tears ran down my face though I had not noticed it._

* * *

I sat up in bed, screaming as loudly as I could, thrashing around, and grabbing a hand full of my hair. The images were still there, and they wouldn't leave. I stayed in my bed and cried all night long.

* * *

The storm had cleared up by morning, and so Eiji went home, wearing his clothes from yesterday. Aunt Jenny had washed them for him. I told Eiji not to forget to bring our science project to school tomorrow. After that, he headed home.

Sunday was kind of a lazy day. I hung out with my aunt and uncle, we mostly played some board games and they told me things they used to do when they were my age. I even received a phone call from Lucy, Keitaro, Shinji and Miki. Lucy had asked me why no one came to school today. I had to tell her it was Sunday, and she exploded. Keitaro was utterly bored, so he decided to give me a call. We talked about various things and Keitaro suggested we should go get our nails done sometime.

…Well, I knew a little more about Keitaro now…

Shinji just wanted to say hi, but we ended up talking for about three hours. Way more than we ever talked. I found out something we had in common. Shinji's parents had died in a car accident when he was five years old. So he knew my pain, too, like how I knew his. He said that he lived with his grandparents ever since.

Miki just wanted to make sure I had gotten home safe last night, and I told her what happened. And then she asked me a question I never thought she'd ask me: "Boyer-san… Do you like Kikumaru-san…?" I didn't know how to reply. I didn't make a sound. So Miki changed the subject. We talked for a while before I heard someone screaming Miki's name in the background with anger. She quickly hung up before I had a chance to say bye. I wondered what had happened…

Sunday soon passed by and now… It was Monday.

* * *

I trudged my feet up to the school gate, after hopping out of Jun's car. I was extremely tired, not being able to get much sleep last night. I had decided to read through my parents Will again, and then I called my grandparents –after I calmed down-. It felt like it had been years since we last talked.

In three days it would be a whole month since my parents died…

"Good morning," I heard Miki say as she walked beside me.

"'Morning," I replied with a yawn.

"Tired?"

"Very,"

"Well, try not to fall asleep in homeroom or any other class."

"I'll try not to."

The two of us headed to homeroom.

After homeroom ended, we met up with the others for lunch and sat under a familiar sakura tree.

"So what're you going to do after school, Liz-chan?" Keitaro questioned as he took a bite out of his rice ball.

"I'm going to go watch Eiji-kun and the others practice." I replied wrapping the pink cloth around my bento box, now finished eating.

"Again? You seem to really like watching them lately." Keitaro mumbled.

"That's because I've become interested in tennis."

"And Kikumaru-san," Lucy teasingly added.

"Don't say things that aren't true!" I scolded her.

"But it is true!" Lucy argued. "If you would ever watch yourself when you're around Kikumaru-san, then you would be able to tell the crush you have on him."

My face turned red. "I…I do not! Eiji-kun is just a friend that I like to hang out with! That's all! And he's not the only one I like to go and see. There's Fuji-san, Momo-kun, Kawamura-san, Echizen-san, Oishi-san, and Kaidoh-san, and Inui-san, and even Kunimitsu-san!" I stated. Why was it that everyone has been saying I have a crush on Eiji or implying it? We. Are. Just. Friends! Why can't anyone understand this…!

When I turned back to Lucy, she had turned into some sort of human-cat. She had cat ears, claws, fangs and a tail, and she was hissing at me.

"Er…"

"She's been like that since you said 'Fuji-san'," Shinji explained.

Lucy hissed again.

"…Right…"

* * *

Lunch ended and we went back to our respectable classes. Soon, I went to science where I met up with Eiji and our volcano project. The little contest Jin-sensei was talking about began and he inspected everyone's projects. Soon he came to ours and we showed him what it could do. He was impressed and soon moved onto the next one.

In the end, a couple of boys in our class won. But I didn't mind, I had fun making the volcano with Eiji, and that's all that really mattered. After that, we didn't have any more science projects, and just went back to our original homework and other things. After every other class ended, I walked to the school's tennis courts with Keitaro and Miki. Lucy and Shinji had to go home. I was greeted by Momo with a nudge and a mischievous look on his face. I raised a brow in question.

"**So I hear Eiji-senpai was at your house Saturday and even stayed the night.**"

"**Yes, he was. It would've been dangerous for him to go home in that storm, so he stayed.**" I replied, folding my arms.

"**So anything happen between you two?**" Momo nudged my side again with a wink.

I blinked at Momo. Why would he even ask that?

"**No, nothing happened.**"

Yeah… Like I was really gonna tell Momo about Eiji's pants falling off and everything else…

"Eh-."

* * *

_**(-Eiji-)**_

Oishi and I laughed together at the joke we made when I noticed Momo talking to someone. And that someone happened to be Elizabeth Boyer. She came to watch me practice again? Hooray! I bounced over to the two, seemingly interrupting Momo, but I didn't care. I really wanted to see Liz-chan, so I hugged her.

"**E-E-Eiji-kun… Need… Air…"** Liz-chan rasped out in Japanese.

"**Oops, sorry!"**I quickly released her and nervously laughed.

"**Eiji! Momo! Twenty laps around the court! NOW!"**

Momo and I both winced at Tezuka-buchou and we both immediately raced off to the courts. I glanced back at Liz-chan who began to slowly inching away from Tezuka-buchou. I don't blame her!

After we finished our laps I walked over to the rest of my team, quickly latching onto Oishi as Kaidoh headed into the courts was Taka for a match.

"**First up is Kawamura-senpai against Kaidoh-senpai!"**

I sat next Oishi on the bench just as Kaidoh made a hissing sound and he looked at Taka with his racquet firmly gripped. Inui held up his own racquet and grabbed a tennis ball out of a basket.

"**Come on, come on, bring it!"**Taka shouted, all fried up.

Inui served the ball to Kaidoh, who ran across the court and smacked it back towards Taka with his racquet. Taka did the same, and it continued on like that.

"**Whoa, that Kaidoh, he's going hard in the beginning?"** Oishi said as he watched Kaidoh roughly hit the ball back to Taka.

I continued to watch the match between Kaidoh and Taka. I watched closely as Kaidoh shifted his weight from his right leg to his left and swung his racquet upwards while putting a lot of topspin on the ball with centrifugal force, making it go over the net in a crescent moon shaped fashion, while shouting: **"Snake!"**

"**Wow!"** Keitaro, one of Liz-chan's friends shouted from behind the fence.

"**All right—little Viper! I'll return all five shots!"** Taka shouted as he ran across the court and smacked the shot back to Kaidoh. **"Burning!"**

"**Kawamura-san can be really fired up when he gets hold of his racquet, huh…?"** Liz-chan mumbled.

I grinned.

"**He tends to have a second personality when he holds a racquet."** Oishi nodded.

"**What strength… Kaidoh has been completely surpassed."** Fujiko said from next to Oishi.

Oishi held his hands to his mouth in a round shape. **"Hang in there, Kaidoh! Just defend yourself, you'll do fine!"** He shouted.

Kaidoh raised his hands to his face, as the ball came flying past him.

"**Out!"**

"**He… tried his best, right?"**Liz-chan turned to look at her other friend.

Miki pushed her glasses up. **"He tried too hard, especially in the beginning, like Oishi-san said."**

Liz-chan frowned.

"**Damn…"** Kaidoh cursed under his breath as Inui suddenly popped up behind him, holding out one of those tasty drinks he made. Kaidoh glanced up at Inui, with a look of horror that only some people could see from a certain angle. The look of horror quickly disappeared as Kaidoh snatched the drink out of Inui's hand, and gulped it down. The next thing I knew he was running out of the court, holding his hand to his mouth. He ran passed Keitaro, brushing against him along the way, and making him fall down as Kaidoh disappeared around a corner. I winced. I really did not want to drink that crap. No way!

"**Is…Is he gonna be okay?"** Liz-chan asked a little worried about Kaidoh.

"**He'll be fine."** Fujiko replied with a chuckle.

Sure…

"**Next set, Momoshiro against Oishi!"**

Oishi stood up and grabbed his racquet.

"**Good luck,"** I gave him a thumbs-up. He returned it with a smile.

Momo stood up too and grabbed his racquet and headed up to the court. The two stared intently at one another. The match excitedly began. Momo jumped high up. After a moment, he slammed the ball down and towards Oishi, with someone shouting something like: **"There it is! The Dunk Smash!"**

Oishi ran to the side where the ball flew, he slid a bit as he held out his racquet. But then, his racquet flew out of his hand, and the ball hit the fence. I could see Oishi grin as he looked at Momo out of the corner of his eyes. Inui then walked up to him, and held him the same drink that he gave Kaidoh. Taking it, Oishi slowly drank it, his nose scrunching up in disgust. He was the next to race out of the court and to disappear around the same corner Kaidoh did, almost knocking Keitaro over as well.

Poor Oishi… I felt bad he had to drink that gross looking crap.

Momo walked back over to the bench where he sat with Ryoma, and let out a sigh of relief, muttering something about the drink Inui gave to Oishi.

"**That's our Captain all right! He wiped out Fuji-senpai!"**

I snapped my head back to the court where Tezuka and Fuji were at. Tezuka began to walk back towards the benches, while Fuji, with his eyes open again, stared at him with a slight smile. Inui then handed Fuji his own drink, Fuji ended up liking it, just like the sick, sadistic person he could be! I looked at Fuji in disgust, and muttered about him giving up too quickly just to drink Inui's drink. Fuji strongly recommended it to me, which I replied with: **"You've got to be kidding…"**

He wasn't…

He even handed me the last bit of the drink, but I wouldn't take it. Instead, I stood up, swinging my racquet around my hand then walked to the court. It was my turn now. **"I am nooooot gonna drink that crap!"** I said as I faced my opponent. Echizen Ryoma! Aka: Ochibi-chan!

Ryoma smirked at me, saying that I shouldn't miss out on such a tasty drink. Oh, he was gonna get it now!

I grinned at Ryoma before turning my head around, and locking my eyes with Liz-chan. **"Cheer for me, Liz-chan!"** I told her, giving her a quick peace sign.

She gave me a peace sign back and nodded.

"**Go!"**

And the match had begun between Ochibi-chan and I.

* * *

**LP8: **Er… So we hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it wasn't any better… Did you all enjoy Eiji's pants dropping, though?

**Bloodpuppy:**I did!

**LP8: **I wasn't asking you… Well, we would like to thank: **Princess-Lazy-Chan, iHiatus, PhoenixRage92, magic126, FleurSuoh, mewmewlover23, girl-of-anime, and animebooklover14**, for reviewing last chapter. Thanks!

Until next time!

_**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**_


	20. Chapter 20: The Tokyo Tournament Starts!

She just so happened to be roaming around the school, her facial expression blank. Her short purple hair framed her cheek bones, and her glossy pink eyes looked forward without a care in the world. As she continued to walk, she happened to pass by some tennis courts. And from she could tell by all the shouting and cheering, a match was going on. This perked her interest.

She took of notice of a tall guy with rectangular shaped glasses standing on one side of the courts with a short freshman, and on the other side of the courts was a red haired boy, seemingly a bit older than her.

"Go!" the guy with glasses yelled before serving the ball, then getting off the courts.

The ball went straight towards the red head, and the short one got ready for the return.

"**I don't mind losing to anybody except for you, Ochibi-chan."** The red head said as the ball drew nearer. **"Take this!"** he added, hitting the ball back to the freshman.**"The first one to strikes wins!"**

"**Huh - He went up for a volley?"** A younger boy on the sidelines asked in surprise.

The freshman that was in the match began to move in on the ball, while the red head stopped near the net.

"**Eiji-san wants to use his volleys and score quickly."** A brown haired girly looking boy stated with a heavenly voice.

"**You sure are trying hard."** The short boy replied as he hit the ball diagonally to the right of the red head.

"**A diagonal shot! Wow - Nice landing…"**

Our mysterious girl turned her head to another side of the court and glanced at the three who intensely watched the match. The one who just shouted was the only boy with him, the one with red hair. His hair was almost the same color as the red head in the tennis match, but the one with the two girls was a bit darker. The girl standing next to the dark red head had glasses and shoulder length black hair. She only looked half entertained and half interested. The next girl had long, curly auburn hair and pretty hazel eyes. She looked absolutely intrigued with the match and one thing our mysterious girl happened to notice: She was not Japanese.

"_**I suppose that is normal, though. Nowadays, there a lot of people from America here."**_

"**Piece of cake, piece of cake, here's one ball!"**Her attention was soon turned back towards the match as the boy who was called Eiji got to the ball just in time, hitting it back.

"**There it is! Kikumaru-senpai's acrobatic play!**" Another freshman at the sidelines loudly exclaimed.

"**Dammit."** The short boy cursed as he approached the ball in order to hit it back.

Just as he was about to hit it Eiji moved to the left again, and the boy hit it to the right once again.

"**Good going Echizen, hit another diagonal shot!"**

"**Easy, you still have got a lot to learn. See, now two balls."** Eiji stated bringing his arm backwards hitting the ball.

Echizen eyes went wide as he reached for the ball. **"Ugh?"** He groaned and luckily was able to return such a shot.

"**My god, so incredible, what a fast reaction! That shot was so unpredictable!"**

"…**Originally, I had planned to let Kikumaru practice returning various shots, but I didn't think…"** the guy with the black spiky hair and glasses, started.**"Perhaps I over did it with my special veggie juice?"** He finished, holding up the glass of the liquid and rubbing his chin.

Next to the glasses guy, there was another person with brown hair and glasses as well, except his were oval shaped and his facial expression was hard to identify. **"This practice is practically made for Kikumaru. It would be too difficult to surpass him from the baseline."** He said with his arms crossed.

"**Heh, third ball!"** Eiji laughed, hitting the ball back once again.

"**There are - really a lot of irritating senpai-tachi."** Echizen smirked, hitting the ball over the net.

"**Oh?"** Eiji asked confused at first, just then Echizen ran up to the net.

"**Ah- Echizen approached the net as well!"**

"**No way?"** someone yelled.

"**I forgot to say, once the half court goes up to volley from that moment on he will have to defend a full court."** The guy with glasses stated as Echizen hit the ball over the net once again.

Eiji grinned like cat. **"Sorry, Ochibi-chan."** He jumped up to his the ball. **"What a pity, what a pity, c'ya next week."** He said as the ball was hit towards the edge of the court.

Echizen started to run towards the ball.

"**Great shot! A diagonal lob!"**

"**He can definitely get it."** A spiky haired boy stated out loud.

"**Ya."** The boy with the heavenly voice and closed eyes agreed.

The ball bounced towards the guy with the glasses and a ball basket.

"**Wah - He's going to run straight ahead no matter what!"**

"**What's he thinking?"**

"**No matter how good he is, he'll never make a shot with his back facing the net!"**

"**I've always wanted to try a shot like this."** Echizen stated bluntly, while reaching his racquet between his legs and hitting the ball that way.

"**Acrobatic play? My god and it is a pro-shot between the legs!"**

"**Dammit!"** Eiji cursed jumping to hit the ball, barely succeeding in doing so.

"**Wow! He caught it!"**

Echizen ran towards to direction of the ball's path.

"**He's fast!"**

"**Yay- Ryouma, it's a great opportunity!"**

Just as Echizen was about to hit the ball Eiji said**: "Ochibi-chan, I've already returned five shots. Yay."**This made Echizen loose focus and miss the ball.

"**Hooray! I win! Inui - let Ochibi-chan drink your special-."**Eiji started bouncing up and down before he was interrupted by a ball flying towards his head.

Our mysterious girl blinked once. Then twice. And then for a third time before crossing her arms and saying: **"Tch! That was boring!"** and walked off.

* * *

**(-Elizabeth-)**

I let out a laugh of happiness and clapped. I was so happy Eiji won, but at the same time I felt bad that Ryoma lost. A tennis ball was slammed into Eiji's head. I held in my laughter, not wanting to be rude, but I'm sure that Miki and Keitaro noticed.

"**Dammit, Echizen!**" Eiji cursed, shaking his fist.

I began to wonder if I was allowed to enter the tennis courts, but decided to stay out here until they were officially finished with practice. I clasped my hands behind my back and looked up at the sky with a smile, but that smile slowly faded away when I started to hear shouting. Looking back out to the courts, I spotted a fairly old woman with her brown hair up in a high pony tail.

"Miki-chan, who is she?" I asked, pointing to the woman.

"Ryuzaki Sumire…or otherwise known as Ryuzaki-sensei. She's the coach of Seigaku's tennis team." Miki replied.

"Ah…" I mumbled, nodding my head. I eventually started to understand what Ryuzaki-sensei was telling them. And just like a lot of the others, I also began to feel excited. This up-coming tournament was definitely something I was not going to miss, plus I owed Eiji for last time…

The practice continued, but not before Ryoma got to drink the juice. He looked terrified, but eventually chugged it down.

* * *

Eight days passed…and only one day was left until the Tokyo Tournament. I hadn't seen much of Eiji, sadly. He and the others have been practicing quite a bit, so he's been very busy lately.

"Lizzy?"

I titled my head back slightly to look at my aunt who walked into the kitchen with a piece of half-eaten toast sticking out of my mouth. I blinked as she held out a piece of paper to me. Taking the piece of bread out of my mouth and chewing on the bit I had bitten off, I took the paper from her and began to read it over.

"Do you think you can run some errands for me today? I would do them myself, but I really haven't been feeling so good today." She said. I took notice of her pale face and nodded, swallowing the food.

"Ok, I'll do it."

Aunt Jenny softly smiled at me. "Thank you,"

I smiled back. "No problem. You should go lie down, Aunt Jenny. Get some rest." Aunt Jenny nodded and headed upstairs to her room. Scooting my chair back, I stretched my arms and legs before standing up. I stuffed the piece of paper into the back of my pants pocket and grabbed the half-eaten toast I was chewing on, sticking it back into my mouth and heading to the door.

I finished the shopping fairly quickly. There wasn't much on the list to begin with. I glanced at my watch. _"Noon already?"_I thought, turning a corner.

And slamming into a pole.

Sidewalk, meet my ass. Ass, meet the sidewalk. "My butt…my forehead…ow…" I groaned, rubbing both with my hands.

"Meow~"

A shiver ran up my spine. Something was rubbing against me! And it was soft…and was that a…meow?

"What the-," I began to say, but stopped when I noticed a cat rubbing up against me, purring. "Oh…a cat." I reached out to pet him…or her behind the ears but I pulled back when he…she…whatever looked up at me. It was my first time seeing a cat up close, truthfully, and I guess I was a bit scared. I reached out once again, petting the cat behinds its ears. It purred even more. _"So…so cute…"_

"**Oi! Look out!**" **(2: Oi! Look out!)**

I quickly shifted my body around in time to see someone on a bike coming towards me in a fast speed. I grabbed the cat and turned my body back the way I was once facing, shielding the cat. Not too far behind me, I listened to the sound of the bike crashing and the owner groaning. I was…okay?

I opened my eyes that I had tightly shut closed, and looked behind myself. I gasped. "No way… Momo-kun?" I exclaimed, rushing over to him and dropping back down to the ground. "**Are you okay**, **Momo-kun?"**

"Eh? Liz-chan?" Momo looked back up at me shocked. "**Why the hell didn't you move?**" He shouted.

I flinched, shutting my eyes again. "**S-Sorry…**"

I could hear Momo let out a sigh, and stand up. "**Here**,"

"Eh…" I mumbled, opening my eyes only to stare at the fairly large hand being held out in front of my face. Taking one glance at Momo, I could tell he felt bad about shouting at me, but now I was feeling embarrassed about acting like such a scared little kid. My cheeks turned slightly pink as I took his hand, allowing him to help pull me up.

"**Eh? Neko?**"

"_Cat? What does he mean by-…?"_I looked down to my arms. "Ah! I forgot I had you!"

"Mew~,"

"_So adorable…" _I thought. Before I got too distracted by my thoughts, I told Momo that I found this cat…sort of. He pondered on something for a moment before telling me he might know who the cat belongs to. I placed the he, she, it whatever in the basket on Momo's bike and went to gather my things off the ground when Momo suddenly told me to hop on. I hesitantly got on the back of his bike, with my most likely damaged groceries and we headed off to the owners house of the cat.

* * *

"Wow…" I breathed, my finger tips lightly touching my lips, something I did at times when I saw something beautiful. And this house was beautiful, and pretty big. I like it! Out of the corner of my eye I saw something move around at the window above, so I looked up, just as Momo shouted:

"**Oi…Echizen!**"

"_Echizen? As in, Echizen Ryoma?"_

I looked again and gasped. It really was Ryoma! He lived here in this beautiful home?

"**This thing here is your family's cat right?**"

Ryoma's cat meowed, making me want to hug him tightly. He was just so cute!

Ryoma smiled as he leaned against the window frame. "**Thanks, Momoshiro-senpai!**"

Momo grinned. "**Liz-chan was the one who found it. Thank her.**"

Ryoma gazed over at me, his smile slightly disappeared, but it was still there from what I could see. "**Thank you**,"

"**Y-You're welcome.**" I nodded.

"Hm…" Ryoma's eyes left me and wandered back over to Momo. "**Wanna have a match?**"

"'_Wanna have a match?'"_I repeated in my mind. When I saw a spark in Momo's eyes, I immediately hopped off his bike, things in hands and began to walk away. _"Well, I'm out of here…"_and I quickly disappeared around the corner.

Well, today's adventure was short.

But fun!

At least I'll be able to tell Aunt Jenny something I did today besides almost getting lost in the grocery store.

* * *

**(-The Next Day-)**

"Elizabeth, aren't you supposed to go with your friends to some sort of tennis tournament today?"

I groaned into my pillow as Uncle James continued to pat my back.

"C'mon girly, time to get up."

"Five more minutes…"

Uncle James threw his head back and laughed. "You might want to look at the time, Elizabeth." He laughed one more time before heading out of my room.

I irritably sighed and turned my head to look at my alarm clock. Look at the time my- AH! I'M GOING TO BE LATE!

"_No! No! No! No!"_I jumped out of bed and grabbed clothes, heading to the bathroom. Really, there was no time to take a shower, I knew the others have been waiting for me for a long time now, and I truly hoped I hadn't missed one of Eiji's matches.

When I finished changing I raced down stairs and to the door where I slipped on my shoes and threw my head back shouting: "Gotta go! Love you guys! Bye!" and ran out the door before they could even reply.

* * *

"You're late!"

I hung my head. How did I know that Lucy was going to say that the minute I showed up? "I know! I'm so sorry!"

Lucy crossed her arms. Obviously, she was not happy. "Apology not accepted. Your punishment for being late is to buy us all dinner!" She stated.

"Buy you all dinner?" I exclaimed in shock. "I don't have that kind of money!"

"I think that punishment sounds like a good idea!" Keitaro piped in, grinning a big toothy grin. "I say we eat meat!"

I paled. "But that's so expensive…"

"Meat! Yes! Keitaro, you are a freaking genius sometimes!"

"Thank you, thank you. I try."

Miki smirked and turned away as she said: "Obviously not hard enough sometimes,"

"What was that?" Keitaro growled, his head bulging with anger marks.

Silently on the inside, I sobbed to myself. "I'm going to be so poor after today…" I sighed.

"Boyer-san~," Shinji tapped my shoulder.

"Yes?" I asked, although I was busy doing something else. I was searching for Eiji.

"Kikumaru-san is over there." He said, pointing to two boys who stood by a vending machine. "I'll take you to him." Shinji said as he grasped my hand in his and raced off, pulling me along.

"OI! GET BACK HERE YOU CHEATING BASTARD!" Lucy and Keitaro both yelled, outraged. Shinji laughed while I only sighed. They were so weird.

"You know you don't have to pull me over here, right?" I said. Shinji smiled as we reached our destination.

"Liz-chan!" Eiji said, happily looking over in my direction.

I went to wave, but realized that Shinji still held onto my right hand. I looked down at our hands and then look back at Shinji, saying he could let go now. He did, smiling. Then I turned back to Eiji to greet him, only to see his was no longer smiling. He was frowning.

"What's wrong?" I asked him. He blinked and shook his head saying that everything was fine.

"**Good morning**," Oishi greeted us from next to Eiji.

"**Good morning**," I smiled back at him. "**Good luck today, Oishi-san.**"

"**Thank you, Boyer-san,**" Oishi smiled.

I nodded and turned to Eiji. "**You too, Eiji-kun,**"

Eiji grinned. "**Yes!**"

"Kihara Shinji! You…**bastard!**" Lucy shouted as she gripped the front of Shinji's shirt, shaking him back and forth while she glared up at him.

"Philips-san, you shouldn't go calling people 'bastards' in public." Miki said. "Do it in private please."

Lucy raised a brow. "Are you telling me to go call him a 'bastard' and beat the shit out of him somewhere else? Like an alley?" she asked, no longer shaking Shinji.

"Yes,"

"All right… Liz-chan, I'll be back in a few." Lucy started to head off to god-knows-where while dragging Shinji behind her. Shinji waved 'bye-bye' to me as he and Lucy disappeard around a corner.

"This is the last time I'll ever see the poor bastard." Keitaro commented. "Poor, poor bastard… She's gonna tear him apart."

"I'm enjoying this." Miki said, pushing up her glasses.

Keitaro narrowed his eyes as he mumbled, "You sure don't look like it. At least smile or look evil or something."

I nervously laughed at my friends. I sure had some weird ones.

I turned back to Eiji and Oishi. As I opened my mouth to ask them when the matches were going to start, Oishi looked at his watched and told Eiji that they should head back to where Tezuka and the others were. Eiji nodded, turned back to me, and grabbed my hand while his other one held the drink he had gotten from the vending machine. "Eh…" I looked down at our hands as I felt my cheeks go red. Was it just me or was he holding onto it a little too tightly?

"**Let's go**!" Eiji said.

I nodded. "**Yes!**"

Instead of running off, we walked, which I found extremely odd. Usually he grabbed my hand if we were going to run off or something. Yet we were walking. I wonder if Eiji even knew he was holding onto my hand or if he did it without realizing it. Well, he wasn't letting go. Did friends usually do this? Maybe I should ask Miki.

"Miki-chan," I said.

"Yes, Boyer-san?" Miki replied, jogging up next to me.

"Erm… Do…" I began to whisper. "Do friends usually hold hands like this? In the movies it's usually couples, isn't it?"

"I suppose you are right." Miki replied.

"Ah…" I mumbled and looked down to the ground in thought. "Then Eiji-kun must not realize we're holding hands!" I came to a conclusion. Obviously, that had to be it. Right? I nodded to myself. Right.

Miki looked disappointed with my conclusion of the hand holding thing, for some reason. "Boyer-san, you truly are an idiot." She sighed and shook her head.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"That you are an idiot. Do I need to spell it out for you?"

"That's kind of mean to say to a friend."

"Does it really look like I care?"

"Nope. Not at all."

"Then shut up."

"Fine,"

"**Where did you two run off to?**"

I turned my head, taking notice of the others. They were all watching Ryoma and this other guy inside the courts. A match?

* * *

**(-?-)**

Tennis… Not a game she was quite fond of. But she decided to come see the tournament today. Wearing her ugly school uniform, she walked around, noticing some of her classmates. She didn't know their names, but knew what they looked like. She was new here, after all. It takes a while to learn names, and sometimes even faces. But she was good at remembering those.

Anyway, a match was going on, naturally. Whatever. They bore her to death. She started to grow tired of hanging around here. But then again, there were some pretty cute guys playing tennis. So did she really wanna skip out on seeing them? Hm…

"**Where did you two run off to?"**

She turned her head towards the large group of what seemed like tennis players, but there were a few non ones too. She took notice of the two that were holding hands. A couple?

"**Oh! Liz-chan!"**The one with the purple eyes blinked as he noticed the girl with the curly hair. Huh… She looked familiar. **"What happened to you yesterday? I turned around and the next thing I knew you were gone!"**

"**Er… Sorry, but I had to go home. I would've told you, but…"**'Liz-chan' trailed off.

"**Good morning, you three."**A boy with his eyes closed greeted Liz-chan and the other two. Our mysterious girl leaned forward a bit, drool sliding down the side of her mouth as she stared at this 'Fuji-san'. She remembered him from the other day! He was the one with the dreamy voice. She also remembered that he had his eyes closed, but she couldn't see his entire face too well from where she was standing. Now that she had though, she couldn't stop drooling!

"**Good morning, Fuji-san."**Liz-chan smiled.

"'**Morning,"**The dark red-head behind the girl with the glasses, said.

The girl with the glasses didn't say a word, but she did nod his way a little.

"**What a strange bunch…"**Our mysterious girl said as she crossed her arms.

"**GAME, SET, AND MATCH!"**

"**Great— Beautiful, Echizen!"**Someone shouted.

"**Seigaku is now leading four to zero."**Some guy with a weird hairstyle said, next to the red-head who our mysterious girl remembered that he was called 'Eiji'.

"**Too many confusing people~,"**she said. **"Maybe I should just go and introduce myself to that dreamy Fuji-san. I wonder if he has a girlfriend~…"**she smirked, taking a step forward.

"**Y-You…?"**

"**Eh~?"**she turned around and took notice of two people. She first noticed the one that was beaten up and being dragged. And then she looked at the other one, the one who was dragging the poor beat up bastard. **"No way,"**she blinked. **"Lucy...?"**

"**Jasmine…?"**Lucy gaped back as well.

The two girls stared at each other, both of their mouths wide open.

"**YOU BITCH!**" Two voices shouted at the same time.

My friends and I all blinked and turned to see who was shouting. I recognized one of them to be Lucy, but not the other. I looked over this mysterious girl who pointed and glared at Lucy. Her skin was tanned which went well with her purple hair and glossy pink eyes. She wore the Seigaku's girl uniform, indicating she was a student at the school.

"Looks like their about to rip each others throats out," Miki commented, and then turned to me. "Boyer-san, I believe you should be the one to calm them down."

"Wha-what?" I stuttered. "But… I…" Before I could even begin my protest, Miki and Keitaro were behind me and pushing me towards Lucy and the other girl. "H-Hey!" I exclaimed.

"Ah, Liz-chan!" Lucy said eyes wide. "What are you doing? OH—!" She shot a glare at the girl as she grabbed my hand, while her other one was still dragging Shinji. "C'mon, Liz-chan, don't get too close to this woman. I don't want you to catch her stupid." She said as I was dragged away and back to my group of friends.

Thoughts began to cloud my mind. What was the history behind Lucy and that girl?

I'd have to ask later. For now… I want to cheer Eiji and the others on.

I looked up at Eiji, who was talking with Oishi and Momo. I smiled. I was so happy to have Eiji as one of my best friends.

Hopefully, we would never part.

I'd like to stay by his side for a long time.

Because that's how all friends felt, right?

* * *

_-Awkward Silence-_

**LP8:** Erm… Yeah… This was… Supposed to be up… A lot sooner. Seriously. We wanted it to be, but stuff got in the way… I'm sorry. _-_-;_And I feel like I'm going to disappoint you all with this chapter... I NEED TO DO MORE LIZZY/EIJI! SERIOUSLY. Thankfully, the next chapter is where it's really all gonna start. ;D

**Bloodpuppy:**Well, let's put the blame on you, LP8. Here! For all the readers who have been waiting so long… Pitchforks. To use on LP8, naturally.

**LP8:** Oi!

**Bloodpuppy:** ANYWAY! We would like to thank: **Princess-Lazy-Chan, Magic126, animebooklover14, PhoenixRage92, Kuro Neko to Kuro Bara, mewmewlover23, FleurSuoh,** and **UzumakiArashi67**

**LP8:** Thank you all so much! And we are so sorry for such a long wait! We hope you're still reading this and will drop a little review…? ^o^ We'd really appreciate it. And we promise not to take so long to bring the next chapter out. Now Bloodpuppy, would you please put those pitchforks away? _–Backs away as Bloodpuppy swings around a pitchfork-_

**Bloodpuppy:** Nope~.

**LP8:** _-_-;_

**Bloodpuppy:**Please look forward to the next chapter where we go deeper into Lucy's past with this 'Jasmine' and Elizabeth… goes out on a date with Eiji?

**LP8:**DON'T SPOIL IT!

**Both:** Until next time!

_**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy~**_


	21. Chapter 21: Scary Movies Suck!

"**At last he's up…**" I turned my head to the courts where I saw Kunimitsu Tezuka entering the court. "Kunimitsu Tezuka."

I never really paid much attention to Seigaku's tennis captain before, but just seeing him walk out there, looking all high and mighty, full of confidence, made me pay attention. I don't think I've ever seen someone like this before.

"**This is my first time seeing the captain compete…**" Kato Kachiro, a freshman, said.

"**Me too**," Mizuno Katsuo, another freshman, nodded.

"**Th-the atmosphere completely changed. All of a sudden, the court has become all quiet.**" Horio Satoshi, freshman number three, commented.

I think I've seen Ryoma hang around these three before…

"This is exciting!" Lucy beamed.

I nodded, agreeing, and turned back to the match just as it started.

Tezuka was the one to serve. Throwing the ball into the air, he pushed himself off the ground, jumping high and slamming his racquet on the ball. The other player didn't even have a chance to move for it as the ball hit the ground near the white line.

People gasped, people cheered. It was quite an amazing thing to see, actually.

The match continued on for quiet sometime, but eventually ended. Then came all the other matches against Akiyama. I cheered for Fuji and Taka, of course, and soon came Eiji and Oishi's match. Eiji told me I should cheer for him, so I did. It was a great match. It ended six to one with Seigaku wining.

Eiji made a peace sign as he and Oishi exited the court, grabbing the towels that were thrown at them as they sat on the ground, surrounded by a bunch of Seigaku tennis players.

"Are you going to congratulate Kikumaru-san?" Miki questioned, nudging me in the side.

I chuckled. "I'll do it later when he's not so busy with everyone else."

"**Did you kick the 'metal board'? You made such a clear mistake.**" Tezuka said, looking down at Eiji and Oishi who were sucking away at their drinks.

Eiji pulled back his drink as he side glanced at his captain for a moment before going back to wiping his sweat off with the towel and finishing his drink. "**Because I dislike their style of playing.**" He said.

Inui opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, he closed it back up and kept silent.

"So whose turn is it to play next?" I asked, turning to Miki for the information. I wouldn't be surprised if she had it, after all.

"I believe it's Echizen-sans." Miki replied after a moment of thinking.

I nodded and waited for the match to begin.

* * *

The tournament continued with many exciting matches. I even met Fuji's brother. Sort of. I didn't know he had a brother! After finding out this bit of information, Lucy had crossed her arms and began to mutter about how there were more of them. She's strange, isn't she?

And so, Seigaku defeated St. Rudolph allowing them to advance to the semi-finals of the Prefectural Tournament.

"I'm going to go congratulate Eiji-kun now," I told my friends as I began to run off in search of Eiji. "Don't wait up for me!"

"OI! YOU OWE US DINNER! GET BACK HERE!" Lucy yelled, jumping up and down in place.

Well… I was hoping she would forget about that, but I guess not.

"Oi! Senpai!" I slowed down on my running as Momo and Ryoma came into my view. I waved back at the two and jogged up to them.

Momo rubbed his chin, "**So, you are not with Eiji-senpai either?**" **(**

"**I was just looking for him.**" I said, glancing around.

"**Oishi-senpai disappeared too.**" Ryoma spoke.

"Hm…" I looked down to the ground. I really wanted to congratulate Eiji. Screw it, I'll find him at all costs! Ok, now I sound like a creep. "**I'm going to keep looking,**" I said to my two lower classmen. The two nodded and I ran off, waving and shouting back at him, "**Bye the way, congratulations!**"

"**Thanks, senpai!**"

I ran around, asking random people if they've seen Eiji or Oishi. Most of them said Eiji went off one his own somewhere and as for Oishi…they had no idea. So after ten minutes of running, Eiji came into my view. He was sitting on top of a large looking cargo, I think, box just looking down.

"Eij-,"

"**I was supposed to receive that shot… Standing over there would've allowed me to respond faster**," I pulled my hand back, the one that was reaching out towards him. Was Eiji thinking about that one match? The one where he didn't do…too good? I mean, he wasn't bad, but he wasn't doing too well in that match. "**DAMMIT!**" Eiji cursed, throwing his arms up in the air. He brought his arms back down and lightly smacked his cheeks, grinning. "**Ok! I'm over regretting!**"

I wasn't sure what to do or say. Should I even say anything? Should I just leave? I wasn't sure, so I just stood there, in silence, watching him that is until I heard footsteps coming towards us so I quickly hid in the bushes. Why? Sudden instinct. That's why. Stupid, I know. And guess who it turned out to be? Oishi.

"**So you were here after all, Eiji.**" Oishi said, adjusting his bag on his shoulder.

Eiji turned and waved at him, smiling. "**Oishi****, I'm not waiting for you.**"

Oishi smiled back and climbed up to sit next to Eiji.

"**Since the first time we teamed up as partners, every time we lost we came here to reflect on things. How many times has it been?**" Oishi asked.

"**I don't remember… There were countless times that we have lost to an old batch of senpai's"**

The silence corrupted the two. I stayed in my spot in the bushes, not wanting to interrupt the moment.

"**Oishi! I promise this will be my…last time here!**" Eiji stood up, throwing his arms out like he did earlier; except for this time he wasn't angry. "**Let's run forward from here!**"

"**Run forward from here? To where?**" Oishi questioned.

Eiji laughed. "**You still don't know? It's confirmed, the Prefectural Tournament, the Kantou Tournament, and the National Number One spot!**"

I smiled at Eiji and Oishi, but then frowned. Seeing this, their friendship, made me feel like I didn't know Eiji as well as I thought. And I didn't. That was upsetting.

"Well, I guess I should get out of here. I'll congratulate Eiji later." I whispered to myself, slowly stepping my way out of the bushes and out of their sight.

"**Ah… Have you seen Boyer-san yet?**"

I froze in place. Oishi… Did he know I was here? No… No, I don't think so. But maybe…

"**Ah! That's right!**"

Dang! RUN!

* * *

"I'm gonna die…" I huffed, flopping down on the ground next to my friends and the other Regular's.

"Where have you been?" Keitaro raised a brow.

"Running…"

"Not exactly the answer I was looking for."

Momo and Ryoma walked up to me, questioning if I had found Eiji or Oishi or even both. I nervously rubbed the back of my neck as I said that I didn't and the next thing I knew, Eiji and Oishi were walking up to us. Eiji immediately glomped me, the usual, and Oishi greeted me. I was finally able to congratulate Eiji, who looked a bit taken a back, probably thinking about his earlier match that he lost, but soon grinned and thanked me. I also congratulated the others as well.

"**I know!**" Lucy suddenly shouted, raising her hand in the air. "**Liz-chan owes us dinner… So why don't you guys come with us!**"

I sulked. Does Lucy think I'm made of money? Meat is expensive you jerk!

"**It's meat,**" Shinji smiled.

"I'm surprised, Philips-san, for you suggesting such a nice offer." Miki said, turning to Lucy.

"I'm just hoping to poison Fuji-san's food. That's all." Lucy bluntly said, shrugging.

Keitaro gaped at her. "Why are you trying to kill him?"

"Why am I _not_?"

"What?"

"Exactly,"

"…"

"Yup,"

"Huh?"

"Philips-san, stop confusing Fujiwaka-san,"

"Fine~," Lucy scoffed at Miki.

"**Meat?**" Momo grinned. "**I'm in!**"

"**Me too,**" Ryoma nodded.

Everyone else agreed, yes, even Tezuka, although Fuji sort of convinced him, but anyways. I almost cried. My money… All gone. My friends are evil.

We made it to the small restaurant where we were immediately taken to a large table. Everyone began to look through the menu, searching for whatever expensive meat they could find. Jerks, purposely trying to make me poor…

The waiter eventually came back and took everyone's orders, before looking down at me with a smile. "**And may I take your order?**" he asked, winking.

Was there something wrong with his eyes? It had also twitched like that when he asked Miki and Lucy for their orders, too.

"**Er…**" I mumbled. "** I'll just have water**,"

He gave me a look while I just sheepishly smiled up at him with a sweat drop forming on the back of my head. I knew I wouldn't have enough money to pay for everyone, and hey, the water is free. The waiter nodded, jolting down a few last things in his notepad before turning on his heel and heading back towards the kitchen.

"Water?" Miki raised a brow.

"I don't have a lot of money on me, ok?" I said back.

Miki gave me another look before shrugging and taking a sip of her own water.

Kaidoh hissed, scaring me half to death. What was with the hissing? "**Are you on a diet or something?**" he asked.

"**No…**" I replied, waving a hand in front of me.

And I believe this is the first time I ever talked to Kaidoh.

Kaidoh let out another, quieter, hiss and I scooted a bit a ways from him, seeing as I was sitting in-between him and Eiji. My arm bumped into Eiji's, making me scoot back towards Kaidoh while apologizing to Eiji.

Eiji laughed and told me it was okay, and then he told me we could share his food. My face heated up and I began to stutter unintelligent things. Why? I had no clue myself. Maybe it was because I didn't see it coming. Yeah, that _had_to be it. I'm sure I would do the same thing it Momo or Oishi had said the same thing.

* * *

Miki, Keitaro and Lucy sighed at their friend who sat in-between Kaidoh Kaoru and Kikumaru Eiji, blabbed unintelligent things, mostly in English, which confused the hell out of Eiji who stared at her like she was an alien.

"_What an idiot," _they sighed.

* * *

"And that's how my first and last goldfish died," I finished, in English obviously.

Wait, what?

"Huh…?" Eiji tilted his head to the side, giving me a questioning look.

"**Nothing,**" I sighed, my head drooping.

Fuji and Oishi chuckled from the other end of the table, knowing what I had said because they could understand and speak English themselves. Ryoma smirked, also knowing what I said, and hopefully he wouldn't be a jerk and repeat it.

Until our food came, we all talked and joked around. Tezuka didn't really do much of the two, but he did say a few things here and there, as did Kaidoh, especially when he and Momo got into a big argument, which Oishi had to break up.

Everyone dug into their food right away as Eiji held out a fork to me. I blushed and took it. This was going to be so awkward. As I inched the fork over for a piece of meat, a hand gently grabbed my chin and turned my head, stuffing something into my mouth. I gave Shinji a weird look as I chewed the food he stuffed in my mouth.

"We can share too," he said.

"Ok…" I mumbled.

"**Now say 'aaaahhh'**," I gave Shinji another look as he tried to feed me another piece of meat. I went with it and opened my mouth, but the piece of meat never came. I opened my eyes and glanced at Shinji who was smiling over at Eiji who chewed on some food. What I wanted to know was…what happened to my meat?

* * *

Miki, Keitaro, Momo, Ryoma, and Lucy all stared at Shinji who still smiled.

"_He did that on purpose."_

* * *

Dinner eventually ended, with me going broke because of the large bill. I silently sobbed on the inside as we walked out of the restaurant and into the darken streets. Miki glanced at her watch saying it was a quarter past nine. I said my goodbyes to Keitaro and Lucy as they parted ways from the group and soon after Ryoma and Momo left, along with Taka, Fuji and Tezuka. I turned to the rest of my friends with a smile and said that I should head home as well. Miki nodded, mentioning the same thing. Oishi said his thanks before he and Miki parted ways from us. I think I even heard Kaidoh mumble a bye when he quietly left us too. And now there was only Eiji, Shinji and I… Awkward.

As I opened my mouth to speak up, Shinji stepped in and asked if I would like him to take me home, in Japanese, for some odd reason, and as I was about to take that offer, Eiji jumped in.

"**I'll take her, nya!**"

He grabbed my arm and smiled down at Shinji, who smiled back. Shinji shortly replied with an 'Ok' and turned and left.

"**Let's go~!**" Eiji happily said as he proceeded to drag me towards my home.

"**E-Eiji-kun,**" I stuttered, "**My arm…**"

Eiji said nothing as he blinked and released my arm, his hand slowly sliding down before grabbing my hand. He looked back at me and smiled. "**Better?**" he asked.

I blushed again, bowing my head so that Eiji wouldn't see my red face. I know that friends usually hold hands like this, but it just felt so weird with Eiji! Especially right now! It just… It just didn't feel like a friendship sort of thing. Am I thinking about this holding hands thing the wrong way?

"H-Hai," I shortly nodded.

Eiji eventually slowed down and walked by my side. My face was still a bit red, so I didn't dare look up, in fear of Eiji seeing my red face.

Eiji whistled some tune while I quietly walked beside him, listening.

Have I told you how awkward this is right now?

Because it's very awkward.

Maybe it's because of our hands.

Should I let go?

Eiji tightened his grip.

Never mind.

It was a while later but we finally made it to my house. Eiji and I stopped walking once we reached the drive way, his hand still gripped mine. When was he going to let go?

"**Uhm…**" I mumbled. "**You can let go now, Eiji****-kun**," I motioned to our hands, hoping he would understand now.

"Ah," Eiji jumped, quickly releasing my hand.

That's when I noticed something disappear along with his hand.

Warmth.

Eiji's warmth.

I clasped my hands behind my back as I looked up to Eiji with a smile. Unknown to Eiji, I was secretly rubbing my hands together, trying to warm them back up. It didn't work, though. "**See you later,**" I said as I began to head up the drive way and up to the porch where I opened the door, waved to Eiji, and closed it, kicking off my shoes.

"Lizzy, is that you?" my aunt called from the living room.

"Yes," I said back.

In the living room were my aunt and uncle. Uncle James sat up straight while my aunt laid her head on his lap while he slowly caressed her long, blond hair.

"Welcome home," Uncle James greeted me.

"Did you have a good day?" Aunt Jenny asked.

I nodded. "Yes, thanks for asking. I'm going to head upstairs and go to bed. I'm really tired."

"All right, good night, Elizabeth."

"Good night, Uncle James."

I continued my way down the hall and up the stairs and into my room where I shut the door and flopped on my bed. I let out a sigh and crawled under the covers. I should probably change… Never mind. I think I can live with sleeping in my uniform for one night.

* * *

Four weeks passed in a blink of an eye. Some things happened, some things didn't. Tennis was involved with life for the past weeks. I could tell how serious tennis was to Eiji and the others. Sometimes I began to wish that I could find something as important as tennis is to them. Maybe, someday, I will.

I was cornered by several girls from the basketball team last week. I can't believe I had completely forgotten about them and the deadline I had to answer! Thankfully, before things had gotten any scarier, a tennis ball flew and smacked poor Naomi in the head. Who was the culprit? Ryoma himself. Why? I have no clue. I didn't think he liked me that much, we never really talked. Anyway, I had to give the girls a 'no' and sent them away disappointed. But for some strange reason, I have this feeling that Akito and Naomi haven't given up on me joining. Ryoma told me to be more careful. I think he sensed them planning something, too. I really hope things don't start to get too out of hand…

Today was Sunday, early morning. Still in my pajamas, I walked into the kitchen as I tried to stifle a yawn. My aunt and uncle greeted me as I sat down at my usual seat at the table. Aunt Jenny eventually passed me a plate full of eggs, bacon, sausage and pancakes. I dug into my food as I watched my aunt and uncle go about their morning routine.

Aunt Jenny's stomach was just barely starting to show. She also has been having weird food cravings, such as pickles dipped in chocolate and amongst many other things.

"Got any plans today, Elizabeth?" my uncle questioned, turning the page on the newspaper.

I shook my head. "Nope,"

Aunt Jenny perked up her head as she heard a ringing sound coming from the hallway. "Phone…" I heard her mumble as she wiped her hands on her apron and walk out of the kitchen. I seized my eating, now full, and pushed the plate away from me as I heard my aunt answer the phone in Japanese. After a couple of minutes, Aunt Jenny came walking in, looking at me with a grin. "Lizzy, Kikumaru-kun is on the phone. He wants to talk to you."

I blinked, surprised. Eiji? Why was Eiji calling? "Ok…" I mumbled, scooting back and standing up. Aunt Jenny flashed me another toothy grin as I passed her on my way out to the hall. I shrugged off her strange attitude and picked up the phone. "Eiji-kun?" I said.

"Nya, Liz-chan!"

Yup, that was definitely Eiji.

"**Good morning**," I greeted him with a small chuckle.

"**Would you…like to go see a movie with me?**"

I blinked and froze. Did… Did I just hear what I think I just heard?

Did Eiji just really ask me to go to the movies with him?

Isn't that… What couples do?

I almost dropped the phone. Eiji was still on the other line asking if I was still there and if I was okay.

"Wait…" I spoke to myself. "Friends… Friends do this all the time, right? They go to movies together. Yeah… That's what friends do!" I nodded to myself and put the phone back up to my ear. "**I would love to!**"

"**Great!**" Eiji happily said. "**It starts at twelve.**"

"**Got it**," I nodded. After giving my directions to the movie theater, seeing as I've never been there before and Eiji knew I would somehow get lost, I clicked the 'End' button on the phone and hung it back up on its receiver.

I walked back into the kitchen where I announced that I was going to go see a movie with Eiji. Aunt Jenny beamed while Uncle James darkened. I shrugged them off and walked upstairs to get changed. "At least I won't have to sit in the house all day." I mumbled to myself, pulling out random clothes. "Now… what to wear?" I grabbed a t-shirt and looked at it for a moment before blinking. "Wait… when did I start caring about what I wear?" Am I going crazy?

"Lizzy~," Aunt Jenny sang as she knocked on my door, peeking inside.

"Yes?"

"You should totally help me with your outfit!"

"No,"

"What? Why?"

"Because clothes aren't that big of a deal," Although I was just thinking about what I should wear a minute ago as well…

"So are you just going to go naked?"

I jumped. "What?" I squealed, blushing.

Aunt Jenny grinned. "I'll help you. Now, let's see what cute clothes you have…" she walked over to my closest, pulling clothes off the rack. "No. Nope. Not cute. Kikumaru-kun wouldn't want to see you in this. No. What is this? Nada. Hm…" Seriously? How hard is it to pick a pair of pants and a shirt?

"Aunt Jenny, it really doesn't matter. I'm just going to be hanging out with Eiji-kun for a little while." I said.

Aunt Jenny gasped, horrified. "L-Lizzy… you… you don't think of this as a…" I tilted my head to the side, confused as Aunt Jenny suddenly went to the corner of my room, black clouds over her head. "My niece… My niece… My poor niece,"

"Aunt Jenny, are you okay?" I asked, placing my hand on her shoulder.

"We must find you a cute outfit!" Aunt Jenny proclaimed, pumping her fist in the air.

"You're so weird…" I blinked.

* * *

I was early.

No. I wasn't early. Eiji was just late.

I never really imagined Eiji as the kind to be late for anything.

I sighed as I leaned against the theater building. People walked by me, some entering the theater, some not. There were a lot of children out and playing and a lot of people doing their grocery shopping. It was a normal day in the city, it seems.

I glanced over the outfit Aunt Jenny forced me in, a simple red looking summer dress that went down to my knees with a long white sleeved shirt underneath and knee length socks. My hair was put into a low pony tail that sat on my left shoulder.

I let out another sigh as I looked at my watch. The movie was just starting, but it was probably a bunch of previews right now, so just as long as Eiji were to make it in the next few minutes, we would be able to see it in time.

"**Hi there cutie,**"

A shadow loomed over me so I looked up to see this fairly good looking guy standing in front of me, smiling.

"**Waiting for someone?**" He asked.

I nodded. "**Yes I am**,"

"**Boyfriend?**"

"**Friend**,"

The strange guy continued to ask me questions and the next thing I knew, he was trying to get me to ditch Eiji and go hang with him. What is up with this guy? He doesn't know me! So why is he trying to get me to hang out with him? Eiji, please, get here soon!

"**Come on it will be fun**," He grabbed hold of my chin, tilting it up so that I was looking at him.

"**No thanks**," I replied.

The guy narrowed his eyes as he muttered about how I was a 'stubborn little cutie'. I have never wanted to punch someone so much than I do right now. Where is Lucy when I need her? I know she could show this guy a thing or two. He would be beaten into a bloody pulp, that's for sure.

"**Can you please leave my friend alone?**"

I blinked. Wait, what- Eiji?

The guy released my chin and turned around to face a smiling Eiji. Cringing, the guy left muttering about how I lied to him about not meeting up with my 'boyfriend'. Eiji looked down at me with a worried expression and asked if I was okay and if he did anything. I told him I was okay and the guy only tried to get me to ditch Eiji and hang out with him. Eiji didn't look too happy when I told him this and muttered something I couldn't quite hear. I shrugged it off though, it wasn't that important.

"**You look cute, Liz-chan!**" Eiji smiled moments later.

I blushed at the compliment and replied with a 'thanks' before glancing over his outfit. I rarely saw Eiji in normal clothes, just school and tennis ones. Anyway, his outfit was normal; a black t-shirt with a red line going across it and normal blue jeans.

Eiji and I entered the theater, grabbing some popcorn and drinks, then handing our tickets over and heading to theater five for our movie – which I had no idea what we were watching – when I asked Eiji why he suddenly wanted to go to the movies. He told me he was going to go with Oishi, but Oishi cancelled on him and suggested he should take me instead.

There weren't many people in the theater, so we got some awesome seats in the back. At least, I thought they were pretty cool. This was my first time seeing a movie in a theater. When I told Eiji that, he was shocked and told me he would take me again sometime.

That sure did make me happy.

* * *

Oh great. Eiji picked a horror flick. Have I ever mentioned that I can't stand the site of blood, guts, etc, etc? I felt like puking. All over Eiji. Just because he deserved it. You'd think he would've at least asked if I liked these kinds of movies, right? Nope. Jerk.

Suddenly, a monster, ghost, whatever thing jumped up, scaring the living daylights out of me and making me squeal and bury my face in my hands. I was shaking. Eiji, right now, you suck. Really, you suck. I never really thought he'd be into these kinds of movies. I peeked over at him, taking notice of his facial expression. Oh… He doesn't look too thrilled about this movie either. Did Oishi pick this movie? Oishi_likes_horror flicks? Never saw that one coming.

Now that I think about it… Did Oishi do this on purpose? If so, really, what for? Why, Oishi, why-

HOLY SHIT!

I loudly screamed and jumped. WHY MUST THINGS JUMP OUT LIKE THAT? WHY? OISHI, YOU'RE A JERK! THIS MOVIE SUCKS!

"**Are you okay?**" Eiji asked, placing a hand on my back.

"**I…I'm not too fond of horror flicks…**" I meekly replied.

"**Neither am I. Oishi picked this out.**" Eiji replied, standing up.

I knew it. Oishi, you're dead.

Eiji held out a hand to me. "**Let's go**," I nodded and took it, the two of us leaving the theater with the unfinished horror flick. Thank. You. God. I felt so much better when we exited the building, like I was able to breathe again. I took a deep breath and exhaled it, smiling.

Eiji laughed a bit before asking what I wanted to do. I tilted my head to the side, puzzled. He said he felt bad that we couldn't watch a good movie so he thought we should do something else. I eventually suggested that we should go get some ice cream, which Eiji beamed and began to drag me away to any ice cream shop he could find.

After getting our ice cream, we pretty much wandered around town, smiling and laughing. We walked into random stores and checked out things. Eiji also showed me a pair of shoes he really liked and was saving up money for.

Eventually, after all of our messing around, we ended up at the local park. The sun was beginning to set, so all the little kids had gone home. Eiji told me to get on a swing, so I did, and the next thing I knew his hands were on my back. I blushed. It felt so weird. Then, he started to push me. We did this for a while and then he wanted me to push him. I laughed and did so, feeling like a little kid again. And so after that, we laid on the grass, the sun almost gone.

"**Today was fun,**" I spoke.

Eiji nodded, agreeing.

I laid my hands out on my lap instead of using them as pillows. They were falling asleep now, so I was trying to wake them up. Eventually they did and I just left them there. I felt Eiji shift around next to me and his warm breath soon on my neck. My cheeks reddened when I noticed how close Eiji had become next to me.

"**You smell good, nya…**" Eiji mumbled, grabbing a couple of loose strands of my hair and twisting them around his fingers. My red cheeks became even redder at his comment. Suddenly complimenting me like that… I stared at Eiji's face. His eyes were closed, so I know he couldn't see me staring, thankfully. I traced over his features, even that band aid that he always wears for some odd reason. I wasn't going to question it, though. All in all, Eiji looked…peaceful.

But, we couldn't sleep here so he had to wake up!

I sat up and began to shake him. "**Eiji****-kun, you can't sleep here**,"

After a brief moment, Eiji finally opened his eyes and sat up, yawing. I seriously can't believe he fell asleep.

Once he was fully awake, we proceeded back to my house.

Hand in hand.

And this time it wasn't awkward!

* * *

**Bloodpuppy:**_-Walks in to see Lily bang her head on her desk-_Holy shit! You really stayed up all night writing this, didn't you?

**LP8**: Yeah…

**Bloodpuppy:**Did you get that material you wanted?

**LP8:**Yes you bitch. _You_were supposed to do it for me last month! IT'S YOUR FAULT THIS CHAPTER IS SO LATE! T_T

**Bloodpuppy:**You've never been grounded before so you don't know how hard it is to get that stuff and MSN you. Anyway, did you start the next one?

**LP8:**It's…halfway done. Your turn…to…type…

**Bloodpuppy:**Hey, you okay?

**LP8:**I'm not very satisfied with the date. At all. :|

**Bloodpuppy:**Why? You're never satisfied with anything you write. ._.

**LP8:**That's because I wrote it. And I dunno. Aaah...

**Bloodpuppy:**You ok?

**LP8:**So…sleepy… but… gotta… thank… reviewers… Zzzz…

**Bloodpuppy:**At least crawl in your bed or something! Don't fall asleep at your desk! And why is it so fucken cold in your room? I thought you hated the cold! _–Sigh-_ Guess I'll be thanking the reviewers today. Thanks to: **Magic126, mewmewlover23, dove tree, FleurSuoh, and blackshadow878.**Thanks you guys! Guess I'll get to writing on the next chapter… Hm… I wonder what kinds of things Lily has on her laptop… -_Evil laugh-_Oh, uh… I mean… BYE! AND REVIEW, PLEASE!

**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy.**


	22. Valentines Day Special: Part I and II!

**LP8: **'Sup people? I have good news and slight bad news.

**Bloodpuppy: **And I have a cookie!

**LP8: **Yes… Cookie… Anyway… Good news is… This is a Valentines Day special! Unless you don't like that, then you have doubled the bad news. The original bad news is… The power supply for my laptop died. T_T I ordered a new one (two, actually.) but it won't be here for another few days. I'm using my other laptop (that I game on) until then and it does not have any of my Documents on it (and since I can't get on my laptop because it fails and dies when I do because of the battery already), so, Bloodpuppy and I thought since it's Valentines Day we would make a special chapter (that has nothing to do with the time line in the story so remember that!) since we can't update the original one (*coughtwocough*). Actually, this is part one of the special. Two would be up on the same day, but Bloodpuppy is writing it all and she's not done. It'll be up before the original chapter though.

**Bloodpuppy: **Enjoy!

**Update 3/9/11: **Bloodpuppy's VTS for Lucy has been put up (finally!). Just scroll down to where it says 'Part II' and enjoy!

* * *

"Eh? Tomorrow's Valentines Day?"

Shinji nodded, confirming what I had asked.

"Huh…" I tapped my chin as I looked up to the bright, blue sky.

"I say we should make chocolates!" Lucy beamed, jumping up.

"What? You have someone you want to give it to? Like a certain… Fuji-senpai?" Keitaro grinned; poking Lucy's red, puffed up cheek.

"Hell no!" Lucy shouted, "I hate, and I repeat, _hate_ Fuji-senpai!"

"Then why do you want to make chocolates?" Miki questioned. "Usually, when girls want to make chocolates it's so they can give it to a guy they like."

Lucy scoffed and crossed her arms. "I want to eat them."

I continued to tap my chin, thinking. I never really celebrated Valentines Day. My parents never did either. In fact, the three of us didn't really acknowledge it. But, making chocolates with my friends and eating them? That actually did sound fun.

"Can I give it to my friends?" I asked out of the blue.

"What friends? We are your friends!" Lucy exclaimed, flailing her arms about.

"I meant Fuji-san, Oishi-san, Kaidoh-san, and everyone else." I blankly replied. Thanks, Lucy.

"I'm sure they would appreciate it." Miki smiled a small smile as she closed her book.

I clapped my hands together, happy. "Great!"

"So, whose house are we doing this in?" Keitaro asked as he leaned back against the tree and folded his hands in his lap.

"Who said you were coming?" Lucy raised a brow, "I was thinking it would just be Liz-chan, Mi-chan and I."

"What? That's not fair!" Keitaro exclaimed, jumping forward.

"I was kind of looking forward to it too…" Shinji said with a small sigh, but his smile never left his face.

"I would like it if Keitaro-kun and Shinji-kun made chocolates with us." I said, side glancing at my two friends.

"But it would be weird if we had two guys there making chocolates!" Lucy pouted.

"Philips-san, this is not like one of those manga's you read." Miki pointed out.

Lucy puffed up her cheeks again before sighing and saying Keitaro and Shinji could come. Keitaro cheered loudly while Shinji cheered quietly, then they both turned towards Miki.

"What?" Miki asked, raising a brow, "Oh, well, why don't we do it in the Home EC room here at school? They should have everything we need, and I'm sure Jin-sensei wouldn't mind."

I titled my head to the side as I repeated, "Jin-sensei?"

"Jin-sensei is also the Home EC teacher." Keitaro said.

"Oooh…"

"Now, let's get going. I can't stay here all day." Miki said as she stood up and collected her things.

The others and I followed her lead, collecting our things and heading into the school where we allowed her to take us to the Home EC room.

Along the way, we ran into Jin-sensei who gave us permission to use the stuff in the room and told us to have fun before shortly leaving. We continued our way and as we drew closer, two voices could be heard.

"Someone else is already in here?" I questioned, mostly to myself, as I slowly slid the door open a bit and peeked inside.

"Sore wa Sakuno-chan de anata wa amari satō o irete wa naranai." A girl with red-brown hair held up in pigtails said to the other girl with long, twin braids. **(1: You shouldn't put too much sugar in it, Sakuno-chan.) **

"Otto…!" her friend frowned. **(2: Oops…!)**

"Ryuzaki-san, Osakada-san…?" I slid open the door the rest of the way as I walked inside with the other slowly following me from behind.

The two girls looked up in surprise. After a long explanation from them and then from us, Tomoka thought it would be a great idea to make chocolates together. At first, Lucy was a bit hesitant, seeing as she could care less about Sakuno and Tomoka, but she eventually gave in and grabbed some ingredients.

"Node, dono yō ni okonau ka chokorēto?" **(3: So, how do you make chocolates?) **

Everyone, minus Sakuno, turned and gave me a 'seriously?' look.

"Watashi wa shinkendesu," **(4: I'm serious.) **

Tomoka and Shinji offered to teach me so that the others could continue on with making their own chocolates. Tomoka was a strict teacher while Shinji was the gentle one.

After failing the first time, and Keitaro almost dropping dead from eating one of my chocolates, I tried again with Tomoka being even stricter this time and Sakuno being the gentle one while Shinji left to go make chocolates with Keitaro who was trying to make chocolates with Miki, but Lucy was hogging her.

"Soshite kon subete issho ni mazete," I nodded and did as I was told, taking the wooden spoon and stirring the chocolate. **(5: Now go ahead and stir it.) **

"Anata ga sōshite Senpai Tomo-chan shitsureina kotode wa arimasen…" Sakuno shyly said as she fiddled with the hem of her skirt. **(6: You shouldn't be so rude to Senpai, Tomo-chan.) **

Before Tomoka could reply, I lightly laughed and said, "Sore wa daijōbudesu. Osakada-san wa kon watashi no Sensei no yōna monodesu." **(7: It's ok. Osakada-san is like my Sensei right now.) **

A light blush appeared on Tomoka's cheeks, obviously a bit embarrassed by what I said.

Anyway, the chocolates were finished in no time. Before I could say any thing Miki walked over and grabbed one up and plopped it in her mouth. I clenched my eyes and my mind was racing imagining Miki making gagging noise while flailing her arms in the air, crashing to the ground taking all the cook ware sitting on the table with her; I could imagine hearing a loud crashing noise from the metal and her body connecting to the floor under my feet, all because the chocolates could maybe possibly be accidentally poisoned.

"Not bad,"

"What?" I quickly opened my eyes, looking at Miki who licked her index finger.

"I said: not bad. They're not terribly good, but they're not bad for your second batch. I have to admit, the first were awful."

"I cannot deny that I almost killed Keitaro with my first batch." I willingly admitted with a chuckle.

Tomoka and Sakuno congratulated me on my success of making chocolates before going back to their own. I smiled at my friends who were scattered around the classroom making their own chocolates. Lucy was covered in it, Miki, with a whole bunch of flour on her face, looked like she was ready to kill someone, Keitaro was crying, and Shinji just kept wiping off the chocolate that covered the lens of his camera. Meanwhile, Tomoka and Sakuno laughed and stayed as far away as they could.

"Anata bukiyōna baka!" Lucy shouted at Keitaro, holding down the 'ba' in 'baka'. **(8: You clumsy idiot!) **

"Is it just me or is Keitaro really emotional lately?" I asked. I helped Miki wipe off the flour on her face while she handled her glasses.

Miki simply shrugged. "He's really a woman on the inside, which means he's probably on his monthly thing."

"So you do have a sense of humor." I said, as the two of us became chibi forms.

"Hush you,"

* * *

"**Uwaa," **Eiji yawned as he leaned back against the wall outside the boy's locker room, waiting for his friends to finish changing. "**Hm… I didn't see Liz-chan come by.**"

"**Ok, let's go home.**" Oishi smiled as he exited through the door way with Fuji and the others following right behind him.

Eiji nodded and smiled, but suddenly stopped after a brief moment when he smelt a strange, but familiar smell…

"**Chocolate?**" he blinked and looked up.

"**Chocolate…?**" Oishi repeated, looking up as well.

The others soon followed their lead and gazed up to the wide open window where their noses met a sweet enticing aroma of warm smooth delicious chocolate smell flowing down from the window.

"**Keitaro-kun, let's make chocolate together! I already finished mine, but I would love to help you with yours! I am not responsible for any mistakes in the taste, though.**"

"**All right, let's do it, Liz-chan!**"

Eiji blinked again. Liz-chan? She was up there? Where the sweet smell of chocolate was coming from?

"**Wasn't that Senpai and Fujiwaka-san?" **Momo questioned.

"**Sure sounded like it.**" Oishi nodded.

"**Valentines…chocolates?**" Taka mumbled.

"**B-Boyer-senpai, if you'd like, you and your friends can use some of our wrappings. We accidentally bought too many the other day when we were shopping.**"

"**Ah! Thank you, Ryuzaki-san!" **

Oishi continued to listen on when he suddenly noticed Eiji had took off towards the doors. **"Eiji, wait!**" Oishi exclaimed, jogging after his red-headed friend, the others silently following behind.

"**They burnt!**"

"**How did that happen? We turned up the temperature to the right one, did we not?**"

"**You did, but I believe they burnt because you two were the ones who made them.**"

"**Miki-chan, that's so rude! I didn't burn mine.**"

"**But the first batch almost killed Fujiwaka-san, correct?**"

"…**Yes…**"

"**My point exactly,**"

Eiji, Oishi, Momo, Taka, Ryoma, Inui, Fuji and Kaidoh peeked inside where black smoke slowly began to run out in the hall.

"**Good thing we opened a window earlier.**" Tomoka spoke.

"**Should we open another one? There's a lot of smoke in here…**" Sakuno mumbled, side glancing at the windows.

"**They are making Valentines chocolates!**" Momo whispered.

"**Let's make another batch.**" Elizabeth said as she pulled more ingredients towards her and Keitaro. "**This time we won't fail!**"

Keitaro nodded and pumped a fist in the air. "**Let's do it!**"

"**I wanna help this time!**" Lucy exclaimed, raising her hand.

"**Let's all do it together. Come on, Ryuzaki-san, Osakada-san.**" Elizabeth smiled.

"**Somehow we're going to fail.**" Miki sighed.

"**Don't jinx us!**" Keitaro frowned.

"**Saa, looks like they're having fun,**" Fuji spoke.

"**I didn't know Senpai was into making chocolates for Valentines Day.**" Momo said, in his light whisper, trying to stay unnoticed by the group in the Home EC room. "**Is she planning on giving it to someone?**"

Continuing to peek through the small crack in the doorways Eiji shifted around and let out a yelp when his foot twisted causing him to grab the back of Taka who let out a gasp as he was being dragged down with Eiji to the cold hard floor.

"**Oh! W-what was that?**"

"**I'll check it out, Ryuzaki-san.**"

Momo, Ryoma, and the others jumped as Shinji came closer to approaching the door. The boys grabbed Eiji and Taka as fast as possible and bolted straight out of there and down the hall around the corner; Fuji stopped to gaze back around and watched as Shinji examined both sides of the hallway before retreating back into the Home EC room.

"**That was close.**" They sighed.

* * *

**(-Elizabeth-) **

"Sore wa nanidatta?" I asked as Shinji slid the door shut and walked back over to us. **(9: What was it?) **

Shinji simply shrugged and made an 'I dunno' hum before going back to making chocolates with the others.

I stared at the door for another second, still wondering what that could've been, then shrugged to myself and went back to what I was doing before.

* * *

Eventually I had to say my goodbyes to Sakuno and Tomoka, seeing that it was getting late and that they needed to head home now. They packed their things and left, making the classroom feel a bit empty now.

Miki also started packing her things as did I and the others now that we were finished. We cleaned up our mess and left the classroom, heading out and towards the school gate where we soon met up with Lucy's brother, Ayame, who had come to pick her up. Lucy was just hopping on when she cursed and ran off, saying she forgot her math book. Miki, Keitaro, Shinji, Ayame and I stood their in an awkward silence. None of us sure what to say, when suddenly…

"Ashita wa kanojo no tanjō-bidesu." **(10: Tomorrow is her birthday.) **

"Eh-"

"Yeah, but don't tell her I said anything cause she might just decide to murder me ferociously. Just come over around six with out saying anything to her and you can come and celebrate with us, okay?" Ayame stated bluntly in perfect English, but why would he not be able to do something like that? He did move back to Japan from Canada.

"Modoru!" Lucy said, jumping on the back of her brother's bike. "Minasan wa ashita o sanshō shite kudasai!" **(11: Back! See you guys tomorrow!) **

I waved back as Lucy as she and Ayame disappeared around the corner.

Tomorrow…is Lucy's birthday?

* * *

It was the next day.

Valentines Day.

I glanced down at the bag of wrapped chocolates that I planned to give Eiji and the others as soon as I saw them. I hoped, at least. I grabbed the bag and took off downstairs, telling my aunt and uncle I was heading off to school before rushing out the door and down the street.

As I closed in on my school, I noticed a familiar brown haired boy walking by himself.

"Kawamura-san!" I called out, waving my hand. Taka turned around, a bit surprised by my sudden entrance. I dug around in the bag, trying to find the box of chocolates I had wrapped in shiny orange wrapping paper. I was able to find it after minute of digging, and pulled it out, handing it to him with a smile. "Kore wa anata no tame no monodesu. Sore wa watashi no hajimete no ishi wa chokorētodesunode, watashi wa karera ga yoi koto o nega tsu." I explained rubbing the back of my neck nervously as Taka stared at the box of chocolates. **(12: These are for you. It's my first time making chocolates, so I hope they'll be ok in taste.) **

"A-Arigato…" Taka mumbled, his cheeks looking a bit flushed.

My smile brightened. "Kangei!" **(13: Welcome!) **

"B-boku wa ima no izure ka o shitei dekimasu…?" Taka asked, looking down at me. **(14: C-can I have one right now?) **

I lightly laughed. "Mochiron!" **(15: Of course!) **

I watched as Taka gently tore the wrapping off and opened the box, grabbing a piece of chocolate, one that was shaped like a star, and plopped into his mouth slowly chewing. After swallowing it, he grabbed another and closed it. "Sore wa yoidesu." He said after he had put the box into his messenger bag. **(16: It's good.) **

I smiled up at him and for the first time, he smiled back at me. Now, I felt so much closer to Taka, seeing as we never really interacted with each other much before.

The two of us continued our way to school where we soon ran into Fuji, Tezuka, Oishi and Kaidoh. Quickly, I dug out their Valentines Day gifts and handed it to them. Fuji thanked me with his usual, kind smile, as did Oishi. Kaidoh didn't say much, but he did thank me with lightly flushed cheeks. Tezuka didn't seem to care that much, which made me a little sad, but he did accept it.

After that I had to head to class with Miki who met up with me at the gate. Classes went by quickly, I have still yet to give Momo, Inui, Ryoma and Eiji their chocolates.

Speaking of Eiji, it was hard to approach him today, for some reason. But I was able to give Momo and Ryoma their chocolates. And eventually Inui, who offered me a drink of his new juice afterwards, which I took. And let me tell you, it was great! I seriously don't see why Momo and Ryoma looked at me in disgust when I drunk it.

Classes were over, so I walked over to the courts where I knew Eiji would be. Another sad fact, he was in the middle of practice.

"You've got to be kidding me~!" I screeched, gripping the metal fence and shaking myself back and forth.

"What?" Keitaro asked, raising a curious brow.

"I haven't been able to give Eiji-kun his chocolates all day." I groaned.

"Didn't know you wanted to give him something for Valentines Day that badly," Miki said.

"I didn't know Valentines Day could be so fun!" I replied with a smile.

"You know it's normally a day for lovers and such, right?" Keitaro asked.

I nodded. I know what this day is intended for, lovers and couples and all that mushy feeling stuff; but what about the friends you just like because they are there for you and care about you? Don't they deserve something, at least to show that you acknowledge their friendship?

"Which reminds me," I mumbled, mainly to myself as I dug through my paper bag and pulled out three wrapped up boxes of homemade chocolates. "These are for you three." I handed the purple one to Miki, who lifted her glasses in surprise as she stared at the small box. Then, I handed the green one to Keitaro and the white one with blue diagonal lines to Shinji.

"I wasn't actually expecting anything from you." Miki murmured.

"Like I would forget about you guys." I laughed.

"I haven't seen Lu-chan all day." Shinji suddenly said, glancing about.

My eyes widened a bit. I hadn't seen Lucy all day either. And today was her birthday! I wonder…is she feeling lonely right now? She never told us from her own mouth about today, which also made me wonder why. I guess there are some people who just don't care about their birthdays, kind of like me. I won't mention when mine is to anyone unless they ask.

"I'm…going to go look for her." I said and placed the paper bag down next to Miki, grabbing a specific box. "I'll be back soon!" and I rushed off.

* * *

"Hi,"

Lucy snapped her head back towards me with wide blue eyes. I walked further up to her, holding the box behind my back as I smiled down at her.

"Don't you want to hang with us?" I asked. After a brief moment of Lucy's staring, I continued, "It felt a bit weird without having you there…scaring Keitaro…doing the things you do, you know?"

"…I just felt like being by myself today. No big deal." Lucy shrugged.

I slightly frowned, and sat down next to her. "It's fun to be alone on your birthday?" I asked.

"How did you know today's my birthday?" Lucy questioned, even more surprised.

"I'm psychic?"

"…Ni-chan told you, didn't he?"

"…Maybe…"

"Pfft…" Lucy covered her mouth as she laughed.

I smiled, happy to see her happy. "Happy birthday!" I swung my hand around and practically shoved the box into her face.

"Chocolate?" she blinked.

I nodded. "Yup!"

Lucy's small face brightened as she ripped through the red wrapping, threw off the top and stuffed several pieces into her mouth. "Not bad," she muffled, "but not good either. But thanks anyways!"

My hazel eyes dulled. "Thanks…and you're welcome. Now…" I stood up, dusting my skirt. "Let's go back to the others." Lucy nodded and followed me back to the courts where Miki and Keitaro were currently talking to Fuji and the others.

"Ah, Miki-chan, where's Eiji-kun?" I quickly asked, digging my bag that I had left with Miki earlier on.

"I think he went to go get changed." Miki replied.

I nodded and took off towards the boy's changing room, and leaned up against the building as I waited for Eiji to come out. I felt excited to finally be able to give him his chocolates. My heart was rapidly beating which made me put my hand over it in curiosity. Why? Why was my heart beating so fast? Why was I so excited to give Eiji his chocolates? Why am I even questioning myself?

"Confusing…" I mumbled as I examined the wrapping paper I had used for Eiji's. It was a simple but elegant, light pink wrapping paper with tiny red and white hearts on it; not to extravagant but it said I care and I am very lucky to have you in my life.

Well, that's what Sakuno and Tomoka told me when they showed me different kinds of wrapping paper and what each meant. Didn't know you could do that with wrapping paper…

"Liz-chan?"

I spun around, smiling, as I held out Eiji's box of chocolates. "Kore wa anata no tame no monodesu!" I repeated from earlier. **(17: These are for you!) **

Eiji blinked as he stole a quick glance at his gift. "Boku?" He asked, pointing to himself. **(18: Me?)**

I nodded, still smiling just as Eiji took the chocolates with his own smile on his face. "Subete no kenri, Liz-chan's no chokorēto!" He pumped a fist in the air with laughter. **(19: All right, Liz-chan's chocolates!)**

I covered my mouth to stifle my laughter, but only to find myself soon laughing with him.

A high pitched squeal is what caught the attention of Eiji and me, since it had interrupted our laughter. The two of us gazed over to the others where Lucy looked like she was ready to kill Keitaro who looked amused yet frightened at the same time.

With a box of her own chocolates in her hands, Lucy stomped up to Fuji and threw it at his chest, shocking Keitaro and even Miki. Lucy let out a growl as she pointed at Fuji and shouted in his face, "SORE DAKE DE SORERA O TORU TON! SHITSUMON O DONKUSO O KAMI!" and stomped off towards the school gate. **(20: DON'T QUESTION IT! JUST TAKE IT GOD DAMMIT!) **

Eiji and I side glanced at one another before we both erupted in laughter once again.

This sure was an amusing Valentines Day.

* * *

**(-Part II-)**

"**Man I never thought that her birthday was on Valentine's Day**." Eiji pouted as they walked towards the pink haired girl's house. And by 'they' meant the group that consisted of, Eiji, Fuji, Momo, Ryoma, Keitaro, Miki, and Shinji.

"**And why do you know where she lives Fuji-san?**" Keitaro snickered.

"**I had to accompany her home one time…**" Fuji replied.

"**Really?**" Keitaro smirked widely.

"**Are you okay?**" Miki asked, noticing Keitaro's sudden change in attitude.

"**Perfectly fine!**" Keitaro stated skipping like a girl.

"**I think Lucy and Keitaro have a secret that they aren't telling us. By the way, where is Lizzy-chan?**" Shinji sighed heavily still smiling that sadistic smile of his.

"**She went home with Philips-san… Rather one could say that Philips-san's brother Philips Ayame, even though he advised against it, kidnapped her…**" Miki replied.

"**What happened to Lucy?**" Shinji asked.

"**Well…A woman with layered black hair on a motorcycle kind of rode in and snatched her up with out a word…**" Keitaro sighed heavily. "**So she might not be able to have a birthday party.**"

"**Well, we are here**." Fuji replied knocking at the door.

A moment later the door swung open revealing a puzzled pink haired girl. "**Da fuck you guys doing here?**" Lucy asked.

"**WHO IS IT?**" Two identical little girls ran up to the door, as did several other siblings.

"**AWAY! They aren't coming in! Lizzy-chan was an exception when Ayame kidnapped her.**" Lucy replied, flustered.

"**Lucy…**" a woman's voice came from the living room.

"**Yes mother?**" Lucy whimpered.

"**They are aloud to enter this house at any given time. Do YOU understand this statement?**" Lucy's mom replied.

"**Yes ma'am…**" Lucy sighed heavily, letting the group of people through the door.

"**Your mom sounds mean…**" Eiji whispered in Lucy's ear.

"**Eh, not really…She's just mad since she isn't allowed into the kitchen to cook anything, not that she can really do so anyways.**" Lucy replied openly. "**I guess I should introduce my family.**"

Lucy walked up to the group of offspring. The first one was wearing a pink stripped dress with a pattern of strawberries on the bottom. "**This is Ava**." Next were two blondes with kitty hats on their heads. "**Hanna and Shannon…Don't ask which one is which because I wouldn't know.**" Keitaro could only think, with a shocked expression, what kind of horrible sister Lucy could be for not being able to tell her own two twin sisters apart!

Lucy continued on with her introduction, ignoring Keitaro's sudden change in attitude.

The next one was a girl in a white dress who had long blue hair in pig tails kind of like Lucy's. "**This would be Lily.**"

A boy with green demonic looking eyes was next; he also had short blue hair that was the same shad as Lily's. "**This is ****Erin****.**" "**Ayame. Most of you guys know him. At least I hope you would…**" Then came a small boy with purple hair who had head phones hung around his neck and looked as if he was about to kill them. "**This is Ryu… He may look like he bites but he doesn't.**" and then turned to another girl, "**This is Riku**." Lucy addressed the short white haired girl who was carrying a bunny around. "**And that one would be Naoya…**" Lucy finished, pointing to a guy with long black hair in a pony tail.

"**So these are your friends?**" a man's voice came from the door way of the kitchen. He had long pink hair that went past his ass.

"**Yes.**" Lucy growled.

"**Rai-honey, get back to cooking before I am tempted to cook in your stead**." Her mother stated getting up and walking into the hallway. She had long black hair with porcelain looking face.

"**But Jacqueline…**" Rai whined helplessly.

"**Mom! Dad!**" another woman's voice came thundering into the house.

"**That'd be Mari-nee-sama…**" Lucy sighed. "**She probably has Bob with her…**"

"**I found him mother!**" Mari announced, storming up to the group of people.

"**Mari! Settle yourself.**" Jacqueline ordered. "**And go change.**"

"**Yes ma'am!**" she replied dropping an older man who had a huge pink afro.

"**Where is Lizzy by the way?**" Miki asked as she did not tear her eyes away from Bob's afro.

"**Taking a shower…Ayame failed and crashed into a puddle of mud.**" Lucy's father replied shrugging his shoulders before going back to work.

"**Is food almost done?**" a voice came from up stairs.

"**No, there is a lot to cook. Which is why Mari had to go get Bob. Naoya you help too.**" Rai ordered with out another thought.

"**So you guys wanna go out back or something?**" Lucy asked rubbing the back of her head.

"**Well anything you want to do is fine, Philips-san."** Miki stated.

"**I would rather act—"** Lucy started.

"**We could watch videos of when Lucy was younger~!**" Makiko yelled running down the stairs with her long purple hair tailing behind her.

"**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**" Lucy yelled tackling her before she landed.

"**What?**" Makiko yelled in surprise from underneath Lucy.

"**Neko-sama is sleeping there…**" Lucy whispered softly in her ear, not letting the others hear before she said something else. "**I was an ugly kid! Don't embarrass our family!**"

"**What are you talking about?**" Ava replied. "**You were cuter than anyone I have ever seen.**"

"**You haven't seen a lot of people, Ava**." Erin bluntly said, walking past trying to avoid that spot as much as possible.

"**Why was he avoiding that spot on the floor?**" Eiji asked slightly skeptical.

"**I dunno… If you haven't noticed I am weird, so why wouldn't the rest of my family be?**" Lucy replied smirking widely as she noticed the cat creep into the living room. "**_This is going to be troublesome…_**" she thought as they got up and walked into the living room where Lizzy was sitting on the couch, wearing crisp, new clean clothes that she had borrowed from Mari, and her hair still wet which made her normal curly hair slightly straight.

"**What a cute cat!**" she exclaimed before trying to learn over and pet it.

"**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! DON'T PET NEKO-SAMA**!" Jacqueline, Makiko, and Lucy yelled at the same time.

But it was too late; Lizzy already had her head on the cat's head. The three females closed their eyes in terror, waiting for the cat to chomp off her hand. After a couple seconds purring could be heard so the three people opened their eyes only to see Lizzy petting Neko-sama with out a problem.

"**Eh?**" Keitaro and the others wondered.

"**You are one lucky duck.**" Jacqueline stated as she walked off into some random room.

"**What are you doing? You could have died**!" Lucy yelled with fake tears streaming from her eyes.

"**Are those fake tears?**" Keitaro asked aloud to himself.

"**Back to the movies!**" Makiko yelled running towards the TV.

"**Okay~!**" Lucy chimed, and plopped herself down on the long couch, followed by everyone else.

"I **though you didn't want to watch them.**" Momo laughed.

"**I changed my mind**." Lucy replied once Makiko put in a tape and started it up.

"**Shouldn't you wait until after dinner for that?**" Naoya smirked widely eyeing up Momo unnoticed by the soon to be freaked out tennis player.

"**Why?**" Lucy said in some foreign language.

"**You should speak in only one language around your friends…**" Naoya replied with a look that said he didn't understand what she had said either.

"**I guess so huh…**" Lucy sighed. "**And you're right… It would be better to have the whole family here watching the past right before our eyes.**"

"**Dinner's ready**!" Rai yelled from inside the dinning room, which turned out to be huge! It had a diamond chandelier with pillars that had filigree carvings engraved in them. The floor was made out of marble, and the chairs and table were just extravagant not to mention huge. Eiji, Keitaro and Momo dropped their jaws at the sight, not expecting this at all.

"**The food…It looks so good.**" Momo said, taking notice of the large amounts of food on the table, with drool slithering its way down his face.

"**Hehe,**" Naoya giggled. "**I am glad you think so.**"

"**Naoya! Where is the silverware?**" Lucy barked drawing the attention of everyone.

"**I dunno!**" he replied running off knowing what his sister was thinking.

"**Go get it you monkey!**" Lucy shouted, throwing a sink at him.

"**Where did you get the sink?**" Ryoma asked that everyone else had also been wondering.

"**My pocket… Now let's sit down and enjoy this wonderful feast before our eyes!**" Lucy said, plopping herself down.

Lizzy sat next to Lucy, Eiji sat next to Lizzy, Fuji, Ryoma, and Momo sat down a line next to Eiji. Naoya sat next to Momo. Keitaro, Shinji, and Miki sat on the other side of Lucy. The rest of Lucy's family sat in any order they wanted.

"**Let's eat!**" Lucy cheered.

* * *

**(-Naoya-)**

_"**Man I never thought there would be kids this cute in middle school.**" _I thought, my cheeks turning red as I stared at this so called 'Momo' next to me.

"**Naoya! Pass the turkey!**" Rai cheered happily as he was drunk.

"**Rai! Why are you drunk?**" Jacqueline shouted angrily as she was just as drunk and probably worse.

"**Why are you drunk?**" Rai retorted.

"**Ugh here they go…**" I sighed heavily.

"**But you have to admit it is funny when they fight like this." **Riku smirked widely.

I just couldn't take my eyes off of the sexy man right next to me, even if my parents were putting on a show.

"**Are you sure this alright for them to be fighting like this?**" Eiji asked skeptically.

"**Could be worse... Last time they both got totally wasted and started throwing swords at each other...**" Lucy sighed in an irritated tone all the while twirling the fork, which was in her hand, in the air.

"**It could always get worse with this family…**" Hanna giggled cutely.

"**Hey~! Momo-chan! You wanna go out and grab something to eat sometime?**" I smirked sexily, while rubbing his thigh.

"**WHAT THE HELL?**" Momo yelled jumping up from his seat.

"**NAOYA!**" Lucy yelled in alarm. "**Don't rape the guests!"**

"**But Lucy~!**" Naoya whined. "**He is hot!**"

"**That has nothing to do with this! Bob do something!**" Lucy yelled in defense of the poor tennis player.

"**Naoya…Keep your hands to yourself.**" Bob mumbled through a mouthful of food.

"**Ugh! The men in this family are so useless!**" Lucy groaned while most of the children and guest laughed at the scene before their eyes.

"**Heeey~! Lucy! Is there anyone you like?**" I asked in a drunken tone.

"**Are you okay? Did mom and dad give you alcohol? That's bad for your health ya' know!**" Lucy replied slightly flustered.

"**You like someone! Who is it?**" I smirked making mother and father pay attention.

"**I swear if this matter is discussed any farther, I will kick your face so hard no one will wanna look at you!**" Lucy growled with irritation. "Not even the ugliest of hobos!"

"**Wow, you must really like this person. Or maybe he or she is in this room~!**" I jeered. I probably should stop soon. She is getting pretty mad.

"**Is it always like this?**" Lizzy whispered across the table to Mari.

"**Only when there are guests, especially when it is Lucy's friends**." She replied.

"**Wow…**" the girl with auburn hair sighed.

"**You better shut up!**" Lucy growled standing on top of the table.

"**Or what~?**" I asked happily in reply.

Lucy didn't get to reply because mother threw a glassful of the finest wine at her.

"..." Steam seemed to emit from Lucy's head where the liquid touched her.

"**Food fight anyone?**" father asked in a happy tone.

"Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!" Lucy erupted with laughter.

"**We should hide…**" Lizzy whispered to Eiji who followed her advice and hid under the table, while everyone else participated in the food throwing.

The short kid with the baseball cap got hit in the face with food before he followed the other two kids under the table, not that I cared anyways, he wasn't nearly as cute as a couple of the other boys.

* * *

**(-Lucy-)**

"**Ah~! That was refreshing!**" I sighed lightly.

"**I never thought having a food fight could be so much fun…**" Fuji said out to the air.

"**Haha! You have no idea~!"** I smiled happily at him before quickly frowning. After all, there was this funny feeling deep within my chest when I looked at him, so who wouldn't? Wait – WHY THE HELL IS THIS CREATURE IN MY HOUSE?

"**Anyways! Let's watch the home videos!**" my mother cheered happily as she had gotten even drunker and possibly inhumanly went over the drinking limit.

"**Neh…**" I groaned getting up and popping a movie in while everyone gathered around the couch and started to movie before sliding myself backwards towards the massive group of family and friends, also unintentionally sitting next to Fuji-san.

The first film was a depiction of me when I was just beginning to learn how to walk and talk. Mostly everyone cooed and awed at the parts where they thought I was cute, but I sat there like a stone.

The next one was of my first birthday, and after that one there was one of me going to the park for the first time, and many ones of all my first times. Eventually there wasn't any more to watch, so my father stood up.

**"Well, I guess that's it. Let's eat the actual cake~!**" he stated walking towards the kitchen.

"**Oh god…You mean those pastries weren't actually the real dessert?**" Momo groaned from his full belly.

"**If you are too full to eat, I'm sure you can take some home**." Bob said quietly.

Then that's when it happened. Neko-sama, my dearest and only cat, jumped on my lap. Of course I started to pet him, but then Fuji-san's hand found its way to his head.

"…" I stared wide eyed as Fuji-san, the one man I had grown to hate, started to pet my cat, which never really let anyone from the outside near it.

* * *

**(-Jacqueline-)**

"**_Wait…What's happening here?_**" I yelled within my head like twenty times over. I thought that it must have been the liquor talking, but it wasn't. That smiling kid was petting my daughter's cat. Not to mention that cat is a lot like Lucy, but there is no way Lucy could have gotten to like him! Or is there…? "**My dearest Lucy~! You are growing up!**" I yelled sobbing on her shoulder as I hugged her from the behind.

"**Mother! What are you doing?**" she yelled back in distress.

"**Honey…Maybe it is time for bed for you**." My husband stated picking me up and taking me to my room. "**Everyone else, go ahead and sing and cut the cake.**"

* * *

**(-Lucy-)**

"**Man…You have some weird parents…**" Ryoma stated in his usual indifferent tone.

"**Yeah…But I love them.**" I replied as everyone gathered in the kitchen.

We cut the cake and all the good stuff but all I really wanted was the cake. We ate it and talked for a couple hours. Sadly my friends had to go home at some point so everyone called for a ride and everyone but Keitaro and Ryoma had a ride home.

"**I guess you'll just have to stay~!"** my gay brother shrugged his shoulders.

"**No! He is not sleeping in your room or any room near yours! If anything he'll sleep in mine.**" I yelled in reply

* * *

**(-Keitaro-)**

I know Lucy was being ni- or rather just trying to make sure I wouldn't press charges against her brother, but I would rather walk home.

"**Hey! Don't I get a say in this?**" I whined as everyone was saying their goodbyes and such.

"**Don't worry kid. I'll give you home.**" Lucy's oldest brother sighed patting my shoulder.

"**Ok…**" I replied sighing helplessly. "**Bye!**" I yelled while walking out to his motorcycle.

"**Bye!**" Lucy's family yelled in reply along while Ryoma had straight face on and didn't reply at all, whom Mari was going to drive home since he lived on the other side of town.

"**Well let's get going.**" Bob said as he put on his helmet, somehow managing to fit his giant afro in it.

* * *

**"Hey! Lucy…How does your brother do it?**" I asked the next day, without even bothering for a reply.

"**What?**" she asked in replied slightly confused.

"**How does he fit his afro into his helmet without messing it up or anything like that?**"

"**I dunno…**" Lucy replied blankly. "**I never noticed or thought of it, but now I will need to ask him.**"

Miki walked up to us while talking to Shinji and Lizzy about math or something like that.

"**By the way Lu-chan…Why didn't you receive any presents?**" Shinji asked pointing out a very important part of the birthday ritual.

"**Ah, but I did! Being able to spend time with family and friends like that was enough to me. Aaand Liz-chan gave me chocolates~!**" she replied smiling a bright smile. This was way out of character for her.

* * *

**LP8: **That's it for part one of the special. Longer than it was supposed to be, but oh well. I wanted to include some people.

**Bloodpuppy:** Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

**LP8: **Here's some chocolate for being awesome and for waiting! If you don't like chocolate then… Here, a bouquet of broccoli! And with a pretty blue ribbon!

**Bloodpuppy:** Leave a review if you oh so wish for this special.

**LP8: **And please just wait a while longer for the original chapter and enjoy the part two of the special whenever it comes out. Sorry for the wait.

_**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**_


	23. Chapter 23: The Big Kiss!

**Note:**If you want to read the (late) VT Day special Bloodpuppy wrote, then go back a chapter and scroll down to where it says 'Part II'. If not, then enjoy the latest chapter!

* * *

Imani-sensei, the math teacher, stared coldly at each and every one of us, her students. Some flinched; most shrugged it off, now used to her cold stares. "This** test is not something you can study for the night before!**" she sharply stated. "**Dismissed**," Imani-sensei turned back to flipping papers in her large book as the class began to gather their things.

"That was practically a challenge Imani-sensei just gave me." Miki spoke in the seat next to me. "Challenge accepted, Imani-sensei. Challenge accepted,"

"You're speaking in English so she can't understand what you're saying, right?" I asked, standing up and gripping my bag.

"No, I figured I was talking to you." Miki haughtily replied.

"While looking at Imani-sensei?"

"I liked you better when you were more polite and shy."

I smiled at Miki as she stood up and threw her books into her bag while we headed out of the classroom.

"**Man…**" Eiji sighed as he and Fuji exited the classroom behind us. "**I hate math tests..**."

"**I'm not too fond of them either.**" I said with a slight smile.

Eiji eyed me for a minute, something I was used to now, before blinking and shouting, 'OH!' ** Liz-chan, let's study together, nya!**" He excitedly said, looking down as we practically gazed into each other's eyes. Feeling the heat rise in my face I could sense my heart was starting to beat faster and my cheeks turn pink. As I looked into his eyes I could feel my palms start to sweat. Wait – why are my palms suddenly sweating? That's new.

"**S-study?**" I blinked.

Eiji nodded, saying that if we studied together we would surely pass the test with flying colors. Thinking about getting such a good score, I felt like I couldn't turn this offer down. Plus, it was Eiji asking me, one of my best friends. It'd be nice to hang out with him more.

I told him ok, and asked him where he would like to study. After a moment of thinking, Eiji said we could do it at his house. We agreed that I would come over Sunday before Miki and I left to our next class.

* * *

"I'm gonna eat you, dammit!" Lucy yelled jumping around the corner scaring Keitaro who jumped up and away from the pink haired girl.

"EEEEEEEKK!"

Miki irritability sighed as she uncovered her ears that were now damaged thanks to Keitaro's loud, girlish screaming.

"Lucy-chan, please stop scaring Keitaro-kun." I said while trying to comfort Keitaro who had jumped into my arms for protection.

Lucy crossed her arms and huffed. "It's not my fault he annoys me so much."

"I really do not understand why you two don't like each other." Miki sighed more calmly this time as she pushed her glasses up with her middle finger.

"Probably the same reason why you only like Liz-chan," Lucy retorted.

"True,"

"Oi! I wasn't serious!"

"I was,"

Lucy sniffed her eyes now big and watery. "Y-You really hate us, Mi-chan?"

"Since when have I given you permission to address me as 'Mi-chan', Philips-san?" Miki rolled her eyes.

"Since I said so!" Lucy stuck out her tongue like a small child and made 'neh' noises.

Shinji chuckled and turned to me. "So you and Kikumaru-san will all be studying for your upcoming math test together, huh?"

I nodded as Lucy gasped.

"Why wasn't I invited?" she exclaimed.

"Because you're not in our grade and don't have a math test coming up." Miki bluntly replied before I even could in a nicer manner.

Lucy huffed and turned away. "Guess I'll just have 'ta drag Kei-Kei-kun, Mi-chan and Shinji-kun somewhere on Sunday, and possibly a few other people. Who knows?"

"Yeah! Wait – WHAT? I am _not_going anywhere with _you_!" Keitaro viciously pointed his finger at Lucy. "Shinji-san I don't mind, but _you_? I think not!"

"Excuse me?" Lucy gave him a disbelieving look. "What is wrong with me? I'm pretty, nice, sweet, practically an angel!"

Keitaro gave her a side ways look while Miki just stared. Lucy looked back and forth between the two and threw her arms out to the side shouting, "What?"

"I think it'll be fun." Shinji commented, switching his video camera to his left eye.

"Why do you always have a video camera?" Keitaro questioned.

"Memories and the occasional black mail," Shinji shrugged.

"Ok then…" Keitaro looked away.

"Better question," Lucy spoke. "How the hell are you not getting in trouble at school for having the camera on you every second of everyday?"

Shinji shrugged again and smiled, "I have my ways."

"Well," Miki said, standing up and collecting her things. "I'd love to stay and bask in the upcoming stupidity, but I need to go home."

"I need to head home too." I also said and quickly stood up.

Lucy, Keitaro and Shinji nodded in agreement and followed us out of the gates where I met up with Jun who gave me a ride home. I asked if she wanted to come in, but she declined and left. I shrugged to myself and entered the house, kicking off my shoes and heading to the kitchen.

"I'm home," I announced.

Aunt Jenny turned around from her cooking and greeted me with a warm smile, "How was your day?"

"Good," I replied and sat down. "Oh, I was wondering if on Sunday if I could go over to Eiji-kun's. We have a math test coming up, so we were thinking about studying for it together."

Aunt Jenny clasped her hands together in delight. "Kikumaru-san? You two have grown so close!"

I rubbed the back of my neck and chuckled. "We have become good friends."

"Not quite what I meant."

"Huh?"

"Anyway!" Aunt Jenny grabbed her kitchen knife, pointing it at me. "I don't mind. But if you're going to eat over there then please give me a call and tell me."

"Yes ma'am… Now can you put the knife down?"

Aunt Jenny blinked and turned back to chopping vegetables. "I'll talk to your uncle about it, but I'm sure he won't mind."

"Ok," I nodded. "I'm going to go do some homework until dinner is ready."

* * *

**(-Sunday-)**

I stood at the front door of Eiji's house, waiting for someone to answer. Not even a moment later, Eiji's mother opened the door, a smile quickly making its way to her lips.

"Boyer-san!" she said.

"Sorry to intrude," I said politely, also remembering that she spoke English.

Sena waved her hand, as if to tell me its fine. "I heard you and Eiji are going to study for your upcoming math test. Eiji's not too good with math, so please help him as much as you can, Boyer-san." She said, ushering me inside. I slipped off my shoes and slipped on the slippers as I followed Sena into the house. "**Eiji! Boyer-san is here!**"

Running feet echoed throughout the house from upstairs as Eiji approached the stairs, when suddenly, he tripped and fell down them. I cringed each time he hit his head on his way down.

"**Ouch!**" Eiji groaned, rubbing the back of his head.

I quickly rushed to his side, worried. "**Are you alright?**" I asked, helping him sit up.

Eiji embarrassingly laughed, telling me he was fine. I helped Eiji stand up. He told his mom that we were going to study and grabbed my hand, dragging me up stairs as Sena told us she would bring some snacks up later.

I was dragged into Eiji's room, passing by his sister, Yumi, who followed us a bit but Eiji slammed the door in her face, locking it.

I laughed a little. "**Ready to study?**"

Eiji nodded, and we pulled out our math books, going over the recent stuff we learned, guessing it would be on the math test. Eiji's mom was right; math was not Eiji's strong point. Though I can't say the same for me, even though I love the subject to bits and go fairly good scores in it, but that wasn't all the time.

Eiji frowned, trying to do the math problem I had given him. I sighed and reached over him, my chest rubbing up against his back. "**First you need to divide by this number. Then subtract all the others so that way only the variable, the letter, is left. And then you get your answer.**" I leaned back again, removing my hand from his that I had used to guide him along the problem. "**Understand?**"

Silence corrupted the two of us as I waited for Eiji's reply. Not getting one peep out of him, I leaned forward again and looked at his face. Much to my surprise, it was all red. "Eiji-kun…?" I asked, confused.

Eiji snapped back to reality, stuttering a 'hai' as he went back to his math problem. I blinked, still confused, and sat back, going back to my own math problems.

I lied on my stomach with my elbows propped up as I read over the questions in my book. All were so simple to figure out, expect for maybe a few here and there that took me a little while to think about. I couldn't focus well on my math as I started to think about why Eiji's face had gone all red earlier. Embarrassed that he sucked at math, possibly? Nah, I doubt it. That's the only thing I could think of though, that is until a little image of what I did earlier flashed through my head. My chest…Eiji's back… I covered my mouth with my hand as my face turned as red as Eiji's earlier.

There was a knock at the door, followed by Sena's voice, "**I've brought snacks!**"

Eiji stood up, unlocking and opening the door. Sena walked in and placed the tray of onigiri with a couple of cups of hot tea on the table. Sena left a moment later, cheering for us to do a good job.

Eiji and I took a break, eating our snacks and drinking our tea.

"**Did you have any trouble with the page of math I gave you?**" I curiously asked, blowing on my tea before taking a sip of it.

"**Nope!**" Eiji shook his head.

I smiled and asked if I could see it. Eiji nodded and stood up, searching for the paper. He started to become flustered when he couldn't find it. I offered to help him search for it, he looking through the papers on his desk while I looked at the ones on the floor.

Through my peripheral vision, I noticed a stranded piece of paper that looked to have writings on it. I crawled towards it, my hand slowly reaching out towards it, when suddenly I heard Eiji exclaimed something like 'there it is', and I cranked my neck around just in time to see Eiji stupidly trip on his own two feet and fall on top of me. Everything happened so fast that I wasn't quite sure all that happened. All I knew of was the weight on top of me, and something soft on my lips.

I groaned, my hazel eyes fluttering open only to meet the blue ones of Eiji. It took me a moment to realize how close we were, and what exactly the soft thing was on my lips. When I did, my eyes immediately widened, just like how I noticed Eiji's were right now.

We were…kissing!

We stayed in that position for quite some time before I think the two of us finally fully grasped the concept of what was going on and Eiji removed himself from on top of me. I sat up, my fingers lightly touching my bottom lip. They tingled in a strange way. A way I couldn't explain, as I wasn't sure why. Eiji didn't even dare look at me as he was all red too.

"EIJI~! **How cute! You finally made a move!**" his mother cheered. "**I come back up to check up on you two and see how you are doing and you guys end up kissing!**"

"**Mother!**" Eiji whined trying to push his mother out of the room.

Silence corrupted the two of us, both of us unsure what to do and say as we stared at the closed door that was previously occupied by Eiji's mother. The tingling feeling in my lips still lingered, which bothered me. I obviously felt a bit weird about this, so how did Eiji feel? And who was going to talk first? Him or I?

After another moment of silence, I decided to break it. "**We should get back to studying.**" I said in a blunt, monotone way.

Eiji strangely looked surprised before letting out a laugh and agreeing with me. I smiled as Eiji handed me the math sheet that started the whole mess moments ago. I pushed the kiss to the back of my mind and checked over his answers, finding an equal amount of right and wrong ones.

"**All right, so here…**" I said, trailing off as Eiji closed in on me to see what I was talking about. My heart began to race and my palms started to sweat when I felt his hot breath on the back of my neck. I couldn't focus!

"**Are you okay?**" Eiji asked, concerned.

"**I'm fine**," I hurriedly replied. My head started to feel dizzy. I wasn't able to think straight anymore as my nose was filled with Eiji's scent. I wasn't sure what to do or say as I fiddled with the paper in my hands, then a thought came to me.

I shoved the paper in Eiji's face. "**You got five wrong.**" I bluntly said.

Eiji blinked and snatched the paper. "**No way!**" he exclaimed.

I giggled. "**Don't worry, Sensei will help you.**," I teased, twirling my pencil around in the air.

Eiji playfully stuck his tongue out at me, which I playfully threatened to rip off. Pushing thoughts of earlier to the back of my mind, Eiji and I continued to study, joking around here and there.

When it was time for me to leave, Eiji offered to walk me home, saying it was too dark out for me to go alone. I smiled happily at how much he cared for my safety, and we left.

"**It's pretty cold out.**," Eiji commented, rubbing his arms in a cold matter.

I nodded. "**So you think you will be able to pass the math test?**" I curiously asked.

Eiji gave me a peace sign. "**With flying colors, nya!**"

I grinned, folding my hands behind my back as I skipped forward. "**Guess we will be seeing about that**," I said in an obvious teasing tone.

It took Eiji a moment, but he finally got it. "**Hey!**" Eiji exclaimed with laughter following after it. I laughed as well when Eiji put me into a headlock.

When he released me a sudden breeze blew by, making me shiver and rub my arms like Eiji had done earlier. "Cold…" I muttered in English to myself as we rounded the corner to my house.

Suddenly, I felt two arms wrap themselves around my waist as I was pulled back, bumping into a chest that happened to belong to Eiji. He laid his head on top of mine, making me blush a little. He said nothing, neither did I. We just stood there out in the cold; barely lighten streets, keeping each other warm.

"_I wonder if Eiji-kun can hear how fast my heart is beating. Feels like it's about rip out of my chest!_" I thought.

I felt Eiji's jaw move, like he opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off by saying, "**I can walk from here, thanks and see you tomorrow!**" I pulled myself away from him, jogging to my house as I waved back at him.

I rushed to the door, throwing it open and slamming it close. I kicked off my shoes and ran upstairs where I slammed my door shut and leaned against it.

"Stupid heart…calm down." I hissed, pounding on my chest. I heaved a sigh and leaned against my door, slowly sliding down. I placed my hands on both sides of my head and stared at the floor. "Why? Why is this happening? What is this, exactly? I'm so confused…"

After just sitting there, contemplating to myself about things, I got up and laid in bed until I fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**(-Earlier That Day-)**

"**Why me?**" Keitaro asked crying.

"**Oh~! Learn to live with it!**" Lucy chimed happily skipping ahead of everyone else.

"**Is it just me or does Philips-san seem happier lately…**" Miki pointed out.

**"Nah… I've noticed it too…**" Keitaro growled. "**It is kind of creepy.**"

"**I think it is nice to see her bright and chipper!**" Shinji replied with his creeper smile still on his face.

"**You guys! Look it is an ice cream place~!**" Lucy yelled happily pointing towards an ice cream parlor. "**Let's go get some~!"**

"**Man! She eats more than I do.**" Momo groaned. After all they had been exploring the restraints of the town for quite a while.

"**Philips-san, you can't possibly still be hungry, can you?**" Oishi asked slightly afraid that she might overeat.

"**Hm? Why of course I can! I can eat lots more~! Especially if it is sweets!**" she replied happily.

"**All right! Fine! And since you are running everyone's wallets dry, you have to pay for it.**" Miki said in slight irritation as they walked through the doors.

"**What ever you say~!**" Lucy smiled even wider.

"_**Okay! What does she have up her sleeve this time?**_" Keitaro thought curiously.

**"Hello Abigail-sama**!" Lucy chimed happily.

"**Ah hello, my dear ice cream fiend.**" The store owner replied. "**You have a lot of people with you today, eh**?"

"**Didn't you say eating with more than one person is always better than eating ice cream alone**?" Lucy countered.

"**Touché.**" Abigail smirked and giggled. "**I am having a special offer today.**"

"**Oooooooh! What kind of offer is it?**" Lucy asked with sparkles in her eyes.

"**If you can eat the Supreme Death by Ice Cream with only two people you order twenty items for free**." Abigail smirked, even though most of the people in the group already knew Lucy would triumph this challenge, but who would eat it with her was the question.

**"Kei-chan…**" Lucy stated seriously while looking at him.

"**Oh my god! You aren't serious are you?**" he exclaimed, backing up slightly.

"**If I wasn't serious then why would I have such a face on?**" Lucy replied pointing to her own face.

"**True...**" Keitaro replied hesitantly.

"**So are you up for it?**" Shinji asked mildly entertained.

"**The only reason I wouldn't be is because it is Lucy-chan.**" Keitaro replied.

"**Oh! I forgot to mention that it is timed…And your time starts when I put it down and you have to finish it within thirty minutes.**" Abigail smirked even more.

"**That adds to the fun!**" Lucy once more chimed happily.

"**Ok then.**" Abigail giggled evilly as she started to make this 'Supreme Death by Ice Cream'.

"**Anyways…**" Momo sighed. "**How can you eat so much?**"

"**Do you have any idea where all my energy comes from?**" Lucy asked in reply. "**It comes from all the food I eat.**"

"**That'd make sense**." Oishi replied.

"**Why am I even here?**" Ryoma sighed heavily, speaking for the first time since he was dragged away by Lucy and the others.

**"Oh get over it! Keitaro was dragged along so you had to be as well!**" Lucy smirked as the ice cream dish was ready.

It stood like two and a half feet from the table and had like a hundred different flavors of ice cream in it. There were also many different toppings.

"**Let's do this, Lu-chan!**" Keitaro exclaimed, equipping himself with a spoon.

"**Why are you so pumped?**" Lucy asked through a mouthful of ice cream. "**Maybe you should focus on eating rather than yapping.**"

Spoonful after spoonful, the two friends put away the ominous tower of ice cream. The rest of the friends talked about many things but really couldn't take their eyes away from the two who were tackling to impossible.

"**Man! Maybe we should have come here first?**" Lucy groaned.

"**I thought you got energy form the food you ate, what happened?**" Keitaro asked smirking with melting ice cream dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"**What happens though when there is no where for that energy to go**?" Lucy replied while shoving more ice cream into her mouth.

Eventually it came to a point where there was only one spoonful of ice cream and toppings left.

**"Kei-chan? Can you eat anymore?**" Lucy asked as she stared up at the ceiling.

"**No…You?**"

**"Nope~!**" Lucy smiled.

**"Time's up!**" Abigail laughed evilly. "**Looks like you will be paying me…**"

"**Aw~!I wish Liz-chan was here…**" Lucy sighed getting out her wallet.

"**Do you mean Elizabeth Boyer?**" Abigail asked interested.

"**Yes.**"

"**Are you guys her friends?**"

"**You bet'cha'!**" Lucy exclaimed happily.

"**Then don't worry about it.**" Abigail replied waving her hand while tending to her other customers.

"**WHAT?**" Lucy and Keitaro exclaimed in surprise.

"**Yep! You don't have to pay if you are her friends.**" The owner replied.

"**All you have to do is be Liz-chan's friend and you get free ice cream?**" Lucy yelled.

"**She doesn't seem to be taking this very well...**" Momo randomly pointed out.

* * *

**LP8: **Finally out! I am so awesome.

**Bloodpuppy:**Pfft...

**LP8:**Hush you. Anyway, thanks to:**Magic126 (for chapter 21), .Rose.23 (21), hyourin-kusabana (21), and dove tree (22).**Much love to you all!

**Bloodpuppy:**So yeah, review if you want the next (winkfinishedwink) chapter!

**LP8:**Which should be better than this one! Maybe.

_**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**_


	24. Chapter 24: Lust

**Note: **I'm going to change something. For now on whenever someone speaks in Japanese it'll just be **like this. **No more Japanese, etc. Sorry if some of you liked that, and to the ones who don't I'm sure you'll enjoy this much more (hopefully xD). Really though, it gets irritating after a while. Translations and such. I'm also lazy. Dx So yeah, sorry to those who liked it, etc. Also, there is a possibility of faster updates coming up soon, though. So look forward to those. Yeah...think that's it... Enjoy the new chapter, you awesome people! And please don't hate me for the new change!

* * *

"This is called kidnapping, you know."

Minamino Akito shamefully looked down to her feet, making me feel slightly bad. "I'm so sorry, Boyer-san," she spoke in her English that wasn't all good, but wasn't bad either. "Naomi-chan and the others really want you to join as do I."

"I don't understand why you guys want me though!" I exclaimed, struggling to free myself from the ropes.

Akito snapped her head up, looking at me with pleading eyes as she clasped her hands in her front of her face. "Please," she begged in her small, quiet voice. "Please join the basketball team! No one else will. Boyer-san, you're our last hope for us getting into any games!"

I sighed as I leaned against the wall in the gymnasium where I had awoken after being knocked out with who knows what as I was walking to my next class which was probably over by now and everyone was eating lunch. I bet Lucy, Keitaro, Shinji and Miki are looking for me by now. I had been with Miki during the time of the 'kidnapping', but I suppose she hadn't even noticed my absence until we got to the classroom. What a great friend.

"Look, I'm really not good with sports. When I have to run or do anything in gym class I can barely breathe. That's probably because I never really had much physical exercise growing up, though…" I said trailing off as I looked to the side.

"We can train your body to endure all the exercise. It may take a while, but it can be done." Akito pressed on. "So, please, Boyer-san…"

"I'm not sure if I even have enough time for a club in my life right now." I continued.

"I'm surprised that none of the teachers have talked to you about this, but you really do need to be in a club. It's sort of…required."

I really began to wonder if she was just making that up or not. But then again, I don't know for myself if it is really required to be in a club and the teachers just hadn't caught up with me yet. I think it'd be wise to ask Miki about this later.

Naomi walked up and bent down next to me, poking my cheek. **"So, she's going to join us right?"**

**"I can speak Japanese. So you can ask me directly now,"** I said in a slightly irritated tone.

Naomi looked a taken back as she had slightly backed up with wide eyes. After a brief moment, Naomi grinned and poked my cheek again, harder, which made me wince. **"Firey,"**

I blinked. "Huh?" Why'd she call me 'fiery'? When was 'feisty' replaced by 'firey'? Or maybe I'm getting this wrong? ...I talk to myself alot.

"Boyer-san, at least give the sport a try. I promise, if you do not like it, we will permanently give up on you." Akito give me another pleading look, making me feel even guiltier for causing that look on her innocent face.

Naomi looked back and forth between Akito and me, probably wondering what the heck we were talking about since she didn't understand English.

I sighed again and looked up, thinking deeply about this. I guess it couldn't hurt to give it a try. I did love watching this sport on T.V after all, but I never actually played it. "All right, all right," I nodded, giving in. "I'll give it a try."

Akito happily clapped her hands, repeatedly thanking me several times before telling Naomi, then rushing off to tell the others while Naomi untied me. I rubbed my wrists for they were sore as hell. Who ever tied me up was strong, that was for sure.

The other girls surrounded me as I stood up. They explained to me that we would see how good I was and the game began!

* * *

"My throat burns," I covered my mouth as I coughed a couple of times as large beads of sweat ran down the side of my face and my cheeks were flushed. If I ever have kids, I'm going to let them get plenty of physical exercise when they're young and older because this is just ridiculous!

"Here," Akito smiled as she handed me a cold, bottled water. I smiled back as I took it and unscrewed the cap, taking a big gulp. My throat felt more cooled, but still burned so I drank more and more until the whole bottle was empty.

Sayumi Mikoto grinned at me as she said, **"You're not bad."**

I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed.

Suzumoto Akane flipped a piece of her black hair as she leaned back against the wall. "**We could use someone like you.**" She said, giving me a small nod to show that she approved of me.

**"Th-thanks…"** I replied, even more embarrassed.

"So, what do you say, Boyer-san? Will you join?" Akito turned around, her long french braided hair swinging to the side.

"Well…" I tapped my chin in thought. Could I really take this on? I did have a lot of fun, even if it tired me out a lot. And I'd feel bad again if I were to turn it down after today. "All right… I'll join."

Akito squealed in joy and told the others who all thanked me.

"We officially have five members now! I can't wait to tell Jin-sensei!" Akito turned back to me with twinkling blue eyes.

"Jin-sensei?" I blinked. "He's the coach?"

Akito nodded. "Yes, and he's a wonderful one too. Do you have his science class?"

I nodded as well. "I do,"

"Then you'll be able to feel comfortable around here! That's a good thing." I nodded again, noticing how Akito's words became more airy and friendly unlike before.

"**Liz-chan!**" A loud, angry voice shouted as Naomi was high kicked into the wall by a short girl, wearing a ninja outfit and her long pink hair tied back into a high pony tail came into view. "**I've come to save you!**"

"**L-Lucy… Where…did you get that outfit?**"

Lucy pulled off her mask, looking displeased. "That's the first thing you say when I've come to rescue you?" then she shrugged and looked away. "Well, whatever. Now let's escape while we can!" she grabbed my hand and rushed off, dragging me behind her. Akito happily thanked me once more as did Junichi Emiko, a quiet girl who was also apart of the team.

Lucy and I left the gymnasium, running. I asked her to stop, as I was tripping repeatedly, but Lucy didn't listen as she was in her own little world of being a ninja.

I sighed and allowed her to drag me off to who knows where.

Maybe there I can eat something.

* * *

"No. No. No. No. No. No. And NO,"

I brushed Keitaro hands off my shoulders as he had shook me each time he said 'no' and it was starting to get irritating.

"I _forbid_ you to join that club," he told me with a stern look, "They will corrupt you! My poor baby!"

"Don't rub your cheek against Liz-chan, pervert!" Lucy shouted as she pulled Keitaro back to cease the cheek rubbing.

"It's a bit too late, Keitaro. I've pretty much already joined." I replied, rubbing my red cheek with my hand.

"Boyer-san, if you join a club, then that means you won't be able to see Kikumaru-san that often anymore."

I turned over to Miki who flipped a page in her math book, not even glancing up from it as I continued to stare at her. "R-Really?" I asked.

Miki nodded, "You'll be busy after school now, I'm guessing, with practice and there will be some days where you'll have to meet up with them and practice. I know this because those girls are very serious about training your body in order for them to enter games." She flipped another page and quietly yawned.

"You're right…" I mumbled, frowning and looking down.

"Ne… Liz-chan, you seem to be quite upset about not seeing Kikumaru-san as often." Lucy circled around me, a Cheshire grin on her lips. "Do you happen to…like him?"

"No,"

"Dammit!" Lucy cursed.

"And she answered it so quick and bluntly." Shinji pointed out.

"I know that's why I said 'dammit'." Lucy sighed.

I flopped myself down onto the cool, green grass under our favorite sakura tree. Images from the other day flashed through my head. So many things happened that day, and it made me all confused. I still wasn't sure why I felt the way I did when I'm around Eiji. It was strange.

Complete and utterly strange.

Even though I tried to push the image of the accidental kiss between the two of us into the back of my mind, it always seemed to resurface at random times. It annoyed me to know end, and it's only been a couple of days!

I sighed. At least Eiji and I could get over such things quickly and still be great friends without feeling awkward around each other.

Ok, that was a bit of a lie.

It's hard to be around him without my heart going crazy, my hands sweating, and the tingling feeling I had once felt when Eiji's lips left mine kept coming back whenever I was around him or even thinking of him.

Just like now.

I flicked my lip, my eyebrows furrowing together in frustration.

"Boyer-san, I'd hate to ruin whatever it is you're daydreaming about, but we have a math test to take in five minutes." Miki stated, slamming her math book closed.

"Doesn't it suck that Imani-sensei only gave you guys a couple of days to study for this thing?" Keitaro asked.

"She has always done this." Miki replied.

"I know she does it to me too." Keitaro sighed.

"She gives us a week to study for it." Lucy piped up.

"Anyway…" Miki said, not really caring for what Lucy had to say. She walked over to me and ordered me to get up. After a moment or so, I did and told my friends I would see them soon, and left for class with Miki.

* * *

Eiji and Fuji were there already, seated in their seats. Miki and I sat down as other students crowded in. Imani-sensei handed out our sheets and told us how long we had to take it. She set the timer right when she told us to start.

As Eiji and I had thought, most of the stuff we had studied for was on the test, and I could only wish Eiji the best of luck as I jolted my answers down. I stumbled upon a few hard ones that I had to think really hard about, but eventually I got them.

I was the fifth to finish, Fuji being first with Miki just a second later and then two other students before me. Surprisingly, Eiji happened to be the eighth to be finished.

The timer eventually went off. I grabbed the papers from my classmates behind my and then handed mine as well as theirs to the classmate in front of me so that they could hand in our papers to Imani-sensei. Sensei dismissed us after that. Eiji stretched his arms out as we exited the classroom.

"**That was difficult.**" He said.

"**Think you did bad?**" I asked.

Eiji thought about it for a moment, "**Not sure,**" I practically face palmed at his answer.

I sighed, but a smile slowly crept its way up to my lips as I shook my head at Eiji.

Miki and Fuji told me about how simple all the problems were, making me feel a bit jealous of how smart the two are while I still had trouble on some of them.

"**See you later, Liz-chan!**" Eiji shouted, running down the hall to catch up with Fuji. I flicked my lip that had been tingling throughout the time I was next to Eiji.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Miki curiously questioned as we walked down the hall.

"Do what?"

"Flicking your lip,"

I was hesitant to reply, but what could I say? I've never been good at making up excuses.

"Long story," I shrugged.

"Do tell. I love stories,"

I sighed and narrowed my eyes. "Jerk…"

"Tell,"

"Can we not do it where everyone could possibly hear?" I asked, gesturing to the people around us.

"Sure, a janitor's closet is over there." Miki replied.

I shrugged, figuring that would be the only place we could talk without someone hearing. So we went into the janitor's closet, probably looking a little weird as we did.

"Start the story." Miki told me, mildly interested.

So I told her just about everything that happened at Eiji's.

* * *

"So you keep flicking your lip because it keeps tingling every time you're around Kikumaru-san?" Miki inquired, making sure everything she just heard was correctly assumed.

I nodded.

"Pfft…" Miki turned around, covering her mouth. Her shoulders lightly shook as she tried to contain her laughter.

A light blush made its way to my cheeks, mostly because I was embarrassed.

"Interesting…" Miki said a moment later.

"I'm sure," I huffed and crossed my arms.

"Now, now," Miki patted my shoulder. "I wasn't laughing at you, I was…ok, I was laughing at you."

I childishly stuck my tongue out at her, something I picked up from Eiji.

"Have fun flicking your lip every time you see Kikumaru-san, though, ok?" Miki teased, opening the door and exiting out to the hallway. I followed behind her.

"But I don't _want _to flick my lip every time I'm around Eiji-kun!" I complained.

"Stay away from him then."

"I can't do that! He's one of my best friends!"

"Then you'll just have to live with the lip flicking."

I heaved a sigh. "It's not just the tingling feeling in my lips… Whenever I'm around him my heart beats fast, my palms start to sweat, and I can't think straight." I solemnly said looking down to the ground.

Miki stopped in her tracks for a second. "I see…" she uttered before pressing forward.

"Maybe I should ask my aunt and uncle about this…" I mumbled.

"I say you should figure out this all for yourself." Miki commented.

"Why?"

She cranked her neck towards me. "It'd be best that way, Elizabeth-san." I stayed put as I watched Miki disappear around the corner. I frowned, knowing that Miki was probably right. And that—

Wait – did she just call me by my first name?

I smiled big time. I am definitely going to have to tease her about that later.

* * *

I sat under my favorite sakura tree on the school grounds. I was by myself. Miki had to go home early and I had no idea where Lucy, Keitaro and Shinji were.

Eiji and the others were obviously practicing right now, but I didn't feel like heading over to the other side of the school. I was being lazy, I suppose.

I had run into Akito earlier on, though she said that tomorrow was going to be my first day of practice.

"Guess I should head home soon…" I mumbled to myself, glancing down at my wrist watch. It was getting pretty late.

I gathered my things, shoving them all into my messenger bag as I hesitated to move away from the rough bark of the tree that I was leaning up against like I always did. When I finally stood up, I gripped the handle on my bag and turned around, only to immediately bump into someone's chest.

"Gomen!" I quickly apologized, backing up.

The person laughed, revealing them self to be Eiji.

"Oh…" I mumbled, looking up at his face where we then stared into each others eyes. The tingling feeling in my lip came back, and I lost all my thoughts. Eiji was speaking, but I wasn't paying attention as I found myself slowly looking down at his soft, plump looking lips. Not only did the tingling tingle any further, but my heart raced even faster than before.

Oh don't tell me I…

I…

I…

I'M LUSTING AFTER EIJI'S LIPS? !

* * *

**LP8:** Chapter complete! Bloodpuppy is writing the next one all by herself! (with me possibly adding details.) Which is great because I have three essay's due soon and a math test to prepare for.

**Bloodpuppy: **Can I have a cupcake?

**LP8: **If you can find them. I think they're in my closet.

**Bloodpuppy: **Why did you put your cupcakes in the closet? !

**LP8: **Like I really remember. Anyway! We would like to thank: **Uzumaki . Arashi.67****, kur-chan, night demon lillith, and mewmewlover23 **for reviewing last chapter. Much love to you all!

**Both:** Please leave a review (we'd really appreciate it! C'mon people, we're at 90. Let's make it to hundred if possible!)

**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy.**


	25. Chapter 25: Lucy's Resolution

Fuji had been peacefully walking to the park to take some pictures, something he occasionally enjoyed to do, when little kids and their parents were running away from the park where they usually played all day long, well at least until the sun went down.

He quickened his pace in order to see what all the commotion was about. As he was walking over to the play ground a shiny object caught his eye and he went to go pick it up. It had four points and had a spherical floral design. "_**It looks like Philips-san's necklace that she always wears.**_" Fuji thought. And sure enough as he kept walking he noticed a familiar pink haired girl tearing her way through the sand box, scaring the little kids and even their parents.

"**Philips-san?**" Fuji asked making her stop and look up at him. She had tears flooding down her face. "**What seems to be the problem?**"

She looked down at the sand. "**I…lost it!**" she sobbed. "**Leave me alone!**" she sobbed even harder, shooing Fuji away before she started to tear through the sand box again.

Fuji walked closer to her kneeling down next to her. He then held up the necklace he had found on the ground. "**Saa…Would this be what you are looking for?**" Fuji asked in a low voice.

She looked up at him and her eyes seemed to almost pop out of her head when she did. "**Where did you find that?**" Lucy exclaimed through her sobs, she reached out seemingly to grab her object but missed and ended up falling into his chest. Fuji had almost lost his balance but caught both her and his self. She sobbed almost to the point where she ran out of breath.

"**Can you take me to the swings?**" she asked gripping his shirt tightly with her small hands that shook.

Fuji was hesitant for a moment, but then slowly nodded. "**Ok…**" he replied before picking her small body up, seeing as she wouldn't get up on her own. Fuji had never realized this but everything about her was small in comparison to Elizabeth Boyer.

**"…Thank you…**" was what Lucy seemed to mumble.

"**Saa. What was that? I couldn't quite hear that.**" Fuji asked her leaning closer to her to hear her repeat what she had said, a little sadistic smile playing across his lips.

"**Nothing!**" Lucy quickly replied turning her head away rapidly from his eyes.

Fuji chuckled, placing her on a swing taking a seat on the one next to her.

There was a brief silence, except for the sound of the swing squeaking when Lucy moved back and forth.

"**Uhm…I really appreciate you finding this for me…I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't…**" Lucy stated slowly, swaying the swing with her small body.

"**It seems that necklace is really important to you, huh?**" he asked giving it back to her only to have her softly grab it.

She nodded. "**Yeah… My cousin gave it to me before she passed away. Well the nurse did because my cousin died in the hospital on my birthday.**" Lucy said. Her voice started to crack. Fuji put his hand on her back rubbing it softly.

"**You must have liked your cousin a lot…**"

"**Well, yeah. I mean she was like my best friend and close sister…We probably couldn't have gotten closer…We were supposed to eat cake together in the hospital.**" Lucy started to cry more while placing her head in her hands while resting her elbows on her legs.

Fuji closed his eyes and listened to Philips-san's loud sobs.

"**Why'd she have to leave me? I was so alone! I even became distant from my closest brothers and sisters.**" She sobbed even harder.

Lucy continued to sob as Fuji fiddled with his camera. A soft breeze blew by, and Fuji turned his camera on. Lucy was wiping her nose, and he took a quick picture without her noticing. She sniffed a couple of times and let out a few shaky breaths. Fuji thought that it was weird yet interesting to see her this way, instead of yelling like she usually did.

"**Would you like me to walk you home?**"

"**Ok.**"

So they both stood up. Once they started walking, Lucy seemed to need to grab onto Fuji for balance since her eyes didn't seem exactly focused.

As they walked towards her house there was a sorrowful silence between the two of them. But after a few blocks Lucy leaned on Fuji's arm, her eyes half open. "**Tired?**" Fuji asked, making her tired eyes look up at him.

"**Crying takes out a lot of energy from me.**" She sighed cuddling into his arm more.

"**Most people seem to be tired after crying.**" Fuji replied letting her lean on him. Lucy seemed to become relaxed when leaning on him, and as long as she didn't start crying, then Fuji would allow her to do so.

After a couple more minutes they arrived at Lucy's house, which was fairly large, a lot bigger than Fuji's house. Fuji walked her up the stairs to her door.

Lucy tried to open the door with the knob but it wouldn't move, so she knocked on it. After a few minutes, a man with flowing long pink hair answered the door. He at first seemed happy to see Lucy was home, but when he saw her eyes all puffy and her nose was red, he realized that she had been crying, and immediately glared at Fuji.

"**Did you make my dearest daughter cry?**" he asked obviously revealing that he was in fact Lucy's Father. Before Fuji even had the chance to reply, Lucy's Father continued to rant,  
"**You're a horrible person!" **

Fuji stayed put when Lucy grabbed her father's sleeve, and spoke in a dead serious tone of voice to him. "**Just leave him alone…**" Her father seemed quite shocked. As for Fuji, this was kind of amusing. "**Now if you don't mind I am going to go to bed.**"

"**Wha-?**" he father asked confused at his daughter's tone.

"**Have a good night, Philips-san.**" Fuji bowed respectively to her father, then left, a smile playing across his lips.

* * *

**(-Lucy-)**

Lucy held Neko-sama in her arm while the other hand stroked the top of the cat's head. The cat only meowed and squirmed as it tried to get out of her grasp.

"_Why? Why did I lean on him so deeply? Why did I have to rely on him to get to the swings, and getting home?_" she thought squeezing Neko-sama tighter.

* * *

The next day, Lucy walked to school with a zombie like air around her. Students strayed away from her, afraid if they were to go near her she would attack and turn them into one of her 'zombie minions'. Lucy didn't even bother Keitaro when she walked onto the school grounds.

"Is something wrong with Philips-san?" Keitaro whispered to Miki while pointing towards Lucy. "You know…not that I really care." He quickly added.

"Probably..." Miki uncaringly replied. "But it seems that there is something wrong along with Boyer-san." she stated afterwards pointing to the other direction.

"Wow...I wonder what's going on with them..." Shinji spoke. After all they were both mumbling things that were incoherent words.

Then, Lizzy and Lucy both ran into a wall at the same time. Both stepped back, shaking it off as they continued their strange ramblings.

"Lust...Lusting...Why god...? Why?" Lizzy mumbled against the wall.

"Why? ...How could...I...Like him? Well not in that sort of way but... Dear god... Help... Me..." Lucy seemed to finish mumbling for Lizzy.

Lizzy stopped for a moment and slid her face towards Lucy's direction. "What's up with you?"

"You first..." Lucy mumbled as she mirrored Elizabeth's actions.

"Let's go somewhere where no one can hear us though..."

"I know a tree that is wonderful for such things..." Lucy sighed and sauntered off with Lizzy trailing after her.

"**What is wrong with them?**" Oishi asked their friends.

"**Dunno...**" Keitaro replied sighing heavily.

* * *

"So what's up?" Lucy asked climbing up a couple branches, followed by Lizzy, though she had some trouble.

Lizzy let out a long sigh. "Eiji-kun and I kissed on accident...And now I think I might be lusting after his lips." She quickly explained.

"Ah...I was walked home by Fuji-san after him finding my necklace...I ended up cuddling into his arm while I was walking with him and I stood up for him when my father was yelling at him..."

"I see..."

Lucy went to nod her head when the wheels inside her brain slowly began to turn. She blinked once, twice, and thrice as she replayed what Lizzy had just told her not more than a few minutes ago now. I didn't seem that Lucy realized what Lizzy had said until she fell off the tree branch laughing hysterically.

"What?" Lizzy questioned, raising a brow as she looked down at the pink haired girl. She released the branch she was hanging on, landing roughly on the grassy ground.

"I knew it! I knew you liked him this entire time~! And yet you denied it!" Lucy yelled through laughs.

A blush made it's way to Elizabeth's face as she quickly went to deny it, but countered with, "...And you don't like Fuji-san?" she slightly pouted. "And for the last time, I do not like Eiji-kun. We're just friends!"

Lucy stopped laughing and looked up at her with a very serious look on her face. But then she smiled. "Yeah! Let's get to class before we are late~!"

Elizabeth smirked. Trying to change the subject, was she? Lucy ran forward, stopping in her tracks and called for Lizzy again. After a moment the two ran to class together.

* * *

Lucy and Lizzy had slowed to a walk as they were in the hallways. As they turned a corner Lucy and Lizzy walked into two people. Lucy fell down and Lizzy took a few steps backwards, flicking her lip right away.

"Ugh..." Lucy groaned getting up and rubbing her sore butt. Then she looked up and realized that they had run into. Her mouth practically dropped to the ground as she shouted, "BUBBLING FISH TACO MUFFINS!" and grabbed Lizzy's hand, running off quickly passed them.

The two boys blinked. "**What was that about?**" Eiji asked, cranking his head towards Fuji.

"**I don't know...**" Fuji shrugged.

* * *

"Haha! That was amazing Lu-chan~!" Lizzy laughed as they turned another corner only to find Lucy's arch nemesis.

"Well, well! What do we have here?" Jasmine smirked widely, towering over Lucy by a few good inches.

"Well, considering your bad eye sight I wouldn't be surprised if you thought you saw two goddesses walking towards you~!" Lucy put a hand up to the side of her mouth as she giggled.

Jasmine showed her displeasurement with a scowl. "Shut up! At least I don't cry over broken crayons!" Jasmine retorted.

"I loved that crayon, god dammit!" Lucy shouted stomping her foot on the ground.

"An orange crayon? Please, it would have run out eventually." Jasmine scoffed.

"There were plenty other orange crayons on the table! You didn't need to use mine!" Lucy glared furiously at the other girl.

"Well, I will make sure next time I steal everything you have properly." Jasmine hissed, placing her hands on her hips as she and Lucy leaned into towards one another.

"You...You have already ruined so much of everything I have ever owned! My career in hockey in Canada. My old friends, you stole them. What more do you want?" Lucy yelled desperately trying to grasp what this girl wanted.

Elizabeth worriedly looked back and forth between the two girls. She wasn't sure what to do. One minute, she and Lucy were having a good time and the next this girl suddenly appears ruining the good moment by starting an argument with Lucy!

"You don't realize it yet?" Jasmine laughed strutting off a little ways.

"Wow..." Lizzy sighed.

"I just don't get it!" Lucy growled clenching her fists together.

Footsteps could be heard running from down the hallway.

Lucy and Lizzy turned around and saw that Miki, Keitaro, Fuji, Eiji, Shinji, Oishi, and Tezuka stood there looking at them including Jasmine.

"**What is going on here?**" Tezuka asked with his usual monotone tone.

"**A hissy fit...**" Jasmine smirked, turning around once more with her arms crossed.

"**'A hissy fit'?**" Lucy repeated, enraged. She started to yell in a different language that no one understood.

"**See?**" Jasmine smirked evilly.

"**Philips-san. Please calm down...**" Fuji pleaded walking towards the small enraged girl.

"**Don't even bother. When she gets started nothing will stop her.**" Jasmine stated, still smirking.

"**Then maybe you shouldn't have provoked her.**" Lizzy snapped.

"**And how is one such as myself supposed to resist doing such things.**" Jasmine laughed not realizing that Lucy had calmed down fairly quickly.

"**Hey...Forget it.**" Lucy cut in with a melancholic voice before turning on her heels and walking away.

"**What?**" Jasmine exclaimed in surprise.

"**You heard me. I am over it. I'll move on and not allow you to bother me. After all, I won't allow anyone to gain enjoyment out of my frustration.**"

"**Heh!**" Jasmine huffed flipping her hair walking past the others.

"**Lu-chan...**" Keitaro sighed in admiration.

"**...GODDAMN IT! I really don't get it!**" Lucy growled in frustration plopping herself on the ground.

"**I thought you weren't going to allow anyone to gain enjoyment from your frustration.**" Miki stated.

"**That is why I waited for her to leave...**" Lucy sighed.

"**What exactly happened between you two?**" Oishi asked worryingly.

"**Well...It is a very long story, so it might be best to discuss this during lunch or something like that...**" Lucy sighed getting up off the ground.

* * *

"**Lucy~!**" Keitaro ran up to the girl with wide opened arms.

"**Who are you?**" the girl asked looking surprised.

"**I don't get it~!**" Keitaro screeched shaking the girl.

"**Let go of me, pervert!**" she shouted slapping him which made him let go.

Keitaro rubbed his cheek, where a red hand imprint was left. "**Where is Philips-san?**" Keitaro whined.

"**Seems someone is eager to see Lu-chan...**" Lizzy giggled.

"**Lucy is over there.**" Ayame pointed coming out of no where. "**But don't be surprised when you see her...She isn't in a good mood it seems...**" he sighed walking away from them shrugging his shoulders.

They walked up towards the direction that Ayame had pointed them to.

Lucy was sitting down, seemingly off in her own little world, but that was interuppted when Elizabeth and the others joined her.

"**Okay...Time to reveal your secret life with Ja- what's her face~!**" Keitaro replied throwing his finger and arm into the air.

"**I guess so...**" Lucy weakly giggled. "**Well, all our fighting started when we were in kindergarten.** "

* * *

_I was sitting there coloring the little cat orange, when suddenly the girl next to me who was slightly my friend ripped the crayon from my hands. I sat and watched in terror as the girl colored so hard, fast and furiously. Well, that was before her grip tightened too hard and the crayon snapped into a lot of pieces._

_"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" I yelled infuriated._

_"Relax it was just a crayon. It's not like you can't find another crayon the same color." the purple haired girl said._

_"You don't understand..." I growled clenching my fists._

_That crayon was the first one I have ever used in my life! And she broke it! She must pay!_

_"Lucy! Your parents are here to pick you up." the teacher aid stated._

_"Yay~! Mother is here!" I yelled happily jumping up and down._

_"Good riddance." the other girl scoffed._

_"Don't think I'll forget what you did!" I yelled turning around on my heel while pointing at her. "You. Will. Pay!"_

_And so I ran off to go to the super fun park that just opened with my family._

* * *

"**Uhm...No offense...But that was the lamest story ever...Just saying...**" Keitaro stated, after raising his hand.

"**You are the lamest story ever!**" Lucy replied pointing at her friend.

"**Wait – what?**" Keitaro asked confused.

"**It isn't supposed to make sense! SO silence or I'll eat you!**" she yelled getting up slightly looking like a pink haired grudge lady.

"**Ah! Lucy has gone psycho ghost lady on us!**" Keitaro shouted as he jumped behind Elizabeth for protection.

Lucy laughed.

"**Lucy! I challenge you to a duel at racing!**" Jasmine's voice came from behind the group of people.

"**Really? Why?**" Lucy replied.

"**Yes! Because I will battle you for the love of Fuji-sama! I know you like him!**" Jasmine exclaimed. Keitaro gasped along with Lizzy.

**"Fuj-Wha?**" Lucy asked in confusion.

"**You like him! And I know it. I also like him, so I will challenge you to a race in order to win his heart!**" she replied pointing her index finger towards Fuji.

By now, Momo, who had just recently joined the group, was laughing his ass off. Even Eiji was laughing. Ryoma who was also there, seemed even amused by the scene that played out in front of them. Oishi and Elizabeth could only sweat drop. And while Miki observed the poor victim of all this (Fuji) face, she could see a small amused smile.

"**I have no idea what you are talking about...But since I am a very prideful person I will take you up this challenge and beat you.**" Lucy replied putting her hair up in a low pony tail.

"**Tomorrow after school! Cross Country. Starts from the school gate going along it and ends up back at the gate.**" Jasmine yelled running off.

"**You better come prepared to lose!**" Lucy replied laughing evilly.

"**I hate to ruin this…moment between you two, but class is starting.**" Miki stated, but Lucy was already running off before she got to her second word.

"**Wha-?**" Oishi asked in surprise. "**She's fast.**

"**Looks like you've got a couple of girls chasing after you.**" Momo grinned at Fuji.

"**Though Philips-san doesn't seem to be interested in wining his heart...**" Oishi added.

"**She seems more enthused about wining the race.**" Eiji commented.

Elizabeth nodded. "**Yeah...just seems like Lu-chan wants to beat Jasmine at something.**"

* * *

"Hey have you guys seen Lucy?" Shinji asked running up to Miki and Keitaro who stood near the school gate. It had been a few hours since Jasmine's declaration of wining Fuji's heart, and everyone pretty much went their seperate ways now.

"She left right after school." Keitaro replied.

"Why?"

"To train or something like that..." Miki replied looking at the ground as she waited for her ride to pick her up.

"Ah...So then where is Liz-chan?"

"She got kidnapped by those basketball freaks."

"Oh…ok."

* * *

**(-Lucy-)**

I have been running laps since school ended and have gotten to that ice cream shop about three times. I shouldn't have any trouble beating Jasmine... I smirked picking up my pace.

But then I ran into something and fell backwards on my ass.

"Huh?" I gasped looking up and seeing Fuji, of all the people…seriously? "Hi..." I said, speaking in English since it was a more natural thing to me, and since I knew Fuji could also speak the language.

"You alright?" he asked offering me his hand which I took but quickly let go because of the tingling feeling I felt run through my arm. It went like a wave through my whole body. But I quickly grabbed it once again after all I was half way up when I let go of his hand.

"Sorry I am kind of sweaty because of running so much."

"It isn't a problem." Fuji replied smiling still.

"Well, what are you doing around these parts?" I asked looking up at him.

"Nothing really." he replied.

"You wanna get some ice cream?" I asked pointing to the place that you can get free ice cream just by knowing Lizzy-chan.

…Well someone needs to take advantage of it!

"I don't have any money."

"Nor do I, but that is okay~! After all, we are friends with Lizzy-chan~!" I chimed grabbing his hand and leading him towards the door. I bet he looked totally surprised. I mean, I was too! I grabbed his friggen hand afterall and now I'm pulling him towards the ice cream shop. Yup... I'm sick.

"Hello, Boyer-san's friend." Abigail chimed cleaning a bowl.

"We are here for free ice cream!" I replied in a happy tone.

"I saw you running by. You're a pretty good runner." Abigail commented.

"Thanks." I retorted dragging Fuji-san to the counter. I sat myself down while he sat next to me.

"It isn't a problem. And nor is giving you guys free ice cream." Abigail winked at Fuji-san and me. "By the way, are you two a couple?"

"Wha-?" I asked falling off the chair.

"I take that as a no. But you two would be a cute couple." Abigail giggled.

"Lies!" I exclaimed in reply, yet Fuji only chuckled at the conversation.

"Anyways. Here is your ice cream." Abigail stated sliding the dish towards Fuji and me.

"Why is it in one bowl?" I asked, confused.

"It is a new creation. I would like your sweet tooth opinion upon it and I was really hoping that as a couple you two could tell me how much fun it was eating it together with someone, like ya know. Lovers." Abigail smirked. "But the second one wouldn't do any good since you aren't together like that."

"Meh, but who cares~! Ice cream is ice cream~!" I giggled sitting back on the stool. "FUJI-SAN! Eat your share~!"

"Saa...I will, I will." Fuji replied taking a bite with his own spoon.

Ice cream was usually good, but this ice cream just seemed to be better then any other.

"Abigail-san? Do you make your own ice cream?" Fuji curiously asked.

"Huh? You can tell?" Abigail asked slightly surprised.

"Well, yeah~!" I answered for him. "The flavors are blended in a way that only home made goods are." I smiled softly.

* * *

"So you really think you'll be able to win the race?" Fuji curiously questioned as we exited the ice cream shop.

"Heh~! Why ever wouldn't I?"

"Hm? What do you mean by that?"

"I have been challenged to many challenges by her, and I have only lost a few." I replied.

"I see."

I turned around and giggled. "Anyways~! What do you think about Abigail's ice cream? Good right~!"

"Yeah." Fuji replied.

"Where do you wanna go now?" I stopped walking.

"Well, I really don't have any money..."

"We don't always need money to do things..." I replied ever so bluntly. "I wonder... If we are friends with Liz-chan, would that mean we can start getting everything for free?"

"I don't think so..." Fuji chuckled at my question.

"Aw! That is lame~!" I sang turning around once again.

"We could go to the park." Fuji suggested.

"Hm? The park?" I said, thinking. "Ok~!"

Fuji and I talked the rest of the way there, and I just couldn't but think to myself,

"_Maybe Fuji-san isn't so bad after all._"

* * *

**LP8:** ...

**Bloodpuppy:** Hm...?

**LP8:** Tell me... Are Jasmine and Lucy bipoler?

**Bloodpuppy:** I didn't make them that way so no...

**LP8:** Oh... Well anyway! Hope you enjoyed Bloodpuppy's chapter, since it sort of needed to be done, though it seemed rushed.

**Bloodpuppy:** It was rushed!

**LP8: **I knew it! So, we would like to thank: **PhoenixRage92, Rhill15, hyourin-kusabana, Uzumaki .Arashi .67, and pennotes! **You all are completely, utterly, superly AWESOME!

**Bloodpuppy:** Lily's going back to writing next chapter. Not sure what she has in store for it because she hasn't told me. But yeah, leave a review and let's try to make it to 100! 5 more!

**LP8:** I'm hoping to start on the next chapter soon.

**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**


	26. Chapter 26: Happiness

"**Eh? Tomorrow is the Prefectural Tournament?**"

"**Yup,**" Eiji nodded. "**You're going to come, right?**"

I smiled. "**Definitely. I didn't know the Prefectural Tournament was so soon.**"

"**What else do you think we've been training like crazy for?**" Momo laughed.

"**How should I know how hard you all are training when I barely come to see you guys anymore?**" I sighed.

"**Saa, that's right. You joined the girl's basketball team, Boyer-san.**" Fuji commented.

I nodded. Yes, it's been a while now since I have actually joined the team, and training has been complete, utter hell.

Literally.

"**So, Inui-san, will you be playing?**" I curiously asked as I glanced over at the glasses wearing guy.

"**No, I'm the team's manager.**" Inui replied.

"**Oh…**" I mumbled. "**I didn't know that.**"

"**Yeah, Inui-san ****uses his data to create exercise programs for us.**" Momo explained.

"**So that's why you guys are so strong!**" I smiled.

Though it seemed like Momo, Ryoma, Eiji, Taka and even Kaidoh all sweat dropped at my comment, I shrugged it off and stretched my arms, letting out a yawn as I did. "**Not only am I tired, but I'm thirsty too. Does anyone want something to drink? I'm thinking about grabbing something.**" I said, just about to turn my heel before Inui placed a glass full of strange colored liqud in front of me.

"**Here,**" he said.

"**Oh, thanks!**" I replied, gently taking the glass from his hands and bringing it up to my lips.

"**She's not normal,**" Momo, Ryoma and Eiji sighed.

After finishing off my drink I handed the glass back to Inui, thanking him once again.

"**Well I better get going. See you guys tomorrow!**" I said, turning my heel and jogging off towards the gymnasium as I happily waved at my friends.

I flicked my lip. Damn has it been going crazy.

* * *

"**Ouch,**" I frowned as I grabbed my ankle. The team gathered around me, Emiko and Akito bending down next to me as Emiko checked my ankle.

"**Are you okay?**" Akito worriedly asked.

I nodded, and winced only a little when Emiko turned my ankle a bit to the side. "**I think so.**"

"**Can you move it?**" Akane questioned.

Emiko released my foot. I lifted it up with ease and moved it around in circular motions. Mikoto recommended that we should stop training for today, in fear of my hurting my ankle more than it was now. Though Naomi seemed a little annoyed, she agreed and helped me stand up.

"I really hope it doesn't turn into a sprained ankle." Akito truthfully said.

"Me too," I sighed.

"I would like to say that we should start training you a bit easier, but I doubt Naomi-chan and Akane-chan would like that very much." Akito sighed sadly as she turned her head to the side.

"It's ok," I replied with a reassuring smile. "I'm sure that my ankle just needs a good rest tonight and it'll be fine. Oh, I was wondering…will we be doing any practice tomorrow?"

Akito tapped her chin as she looked up in thought. "I think so. Why? Do you have other plans?"

I rubbed my neck. "Sort of… I promised my friends I would go cheer for them at the Prefectural Tournament tomorrow."

"Oh!" Akito lightly gasped. "That's right; I forgot you were friends with those tennis players. Well, we should ask Naomi-chan if you can leave early. She is the 'boss' after all."

* * *

Naomi crossed her arms. "**No. Way.**" She coldly stated.

"**E-eh? B-But Naomi-chan…**" Akito frowned.

"**I refuse** **to allow Boyer-san to get off early. We need to train! Train! We **_**do **_**have a game coming up, after all, and Boyer-san has an important role! But she can't fill that role if she's always tripping and having to take a crap load of breaks, right?**"

"**C'mon, it's just one day.**" Mikoto said.

"**No,**"

"**Can't we all just come later then?**" Akane said, walking up from behind me and putting a hand on my shoulder. "**Obviously Boyer-san has something important to do tomorrow.**"

Naomi huffed. "**Nope,**"

I sighed. Naomi is stubborn, that's for sure.

"**Boyer-san said she would join the team. She has responsibilities as a member now.**" Naomi stated, wagging a finger in the air as she walked back and forth in front of us. "**And one of those responsibilities is to come to practice and stay until the very end**." She stopped in front of me and poked me in the chest. Hard, might I add. "**Got that?**"

"**Got it,**"

Akito's eyes widened. "**Eh? B-Boyer-san…**"

I turned to her. "**It's ok.**" Emiko gave me a look. "**Really,**" she then shrugged.

"**Good,**" Naomi said, looking proud and satisfied. "**Now, dismissed!**"

The others and I turned our heels and made our way to the changing room, where we changed out of our gym clothes and back into our uniforms. Afterwards we all parted ways, and while they headed home I headed to the tennis courts in order to tell Eiji I wouldn't make it tomorrow.

"Hey Oishi," I greeted my fellow friend.

"Hey," he replied with a smile.

"Is everyone still practicing?" I asked, peeking over his shoulder at the others.

"Most, yeah. Tomorrow is the Prefectural Tournament, after all."

"So I've heard…"

"Are you coming? Eiji-kun will be happy to see you there, cheering him on and all."

"I was…but something happened…"

Oishi glanced at me, concerned.

"Nothing bad," I quickly said.

He looked a bit more relieved.

"Yeah, it's just something I can't really get out of."

"Well that's a shame." He frowned.

"Yeah it is." The two of us crossed our arms as we stared out at the others. Kaidoh and Momo seemed to be in some sort of argument, with Ryoma making a few comments here and there. So much for practicing. "Even though I won't be there, I'll still be rooting for you guys, so do your best, ok?"

Oishi smiled down at me. "Yeah, thanks."

I smiled back up at him, and just as the two of us went back to watching the others, Eiji came jogging up, waving at me.

The tingling sensation hit my lips almost immediately. My hand itched to flick it, but I grabbed hold of it with my other as Eiji finally made it to us. He greeted me and Oishi in his usual energetic, carefree way.

"**Eiji-kun, I have some…bad news.**" I said, my smile faltering. Eiji's own smile slowly dropped as he looked down at me. "**I won't be able to make it tomorrow… Sorry!**" I bowed respectfully in admission of guilt and in hope he would forgive me a bit quicker.

"**Ah…**" I straightened myself as Eiji continued, "**That's sucks, but I can understand, nya.**" I looked up into Eiji's blue eyes where a disappointment flickered by quickly before changing into a different, cheerful emotion.

I lightly gripped my upper shirt, my chest feeling tight after seeing the disappointment in Eiji. It hurt. Really, it did, letting Eiji down like this. I looked to the side for a split second, and then looked back at Eiji with a big smile. Eiji smiled back as he started a conversation which Oishi gradually entered.

* * *

"Cheer extra hard for me, ok?" I said to Miki on the phone.

"_I don't cheer, but I'll tell Philips-san and Fujiwaka-san to do so for you._" Miki replied.

"That's good too," I laughed.

"_So how upset was Kikumaru-san?_"

"Mm…he seemed disappointed, but cheered up right away."

"_Elizabeth-san…_"

I grinned at her calling of my name. "Yes, Miki-chan?"

"_Do you ever question the relationship Kikumaru-san and yourself have?_"

I froze. Question the relationship Eiji and I have? "No… I never really thought I needed to."

"_Trust me when I say this: think a little more about the friendship between you two_."

My eyebrows knitted together in not only confusion, but in slight annoyance. "Are you trying to say that I annoy Eiji-kun or something?"

"_Quite the opposite,_"

"Eh?"

"_Look… I need to get off and do some homework. I suggest you do the same. Good night, Elizabeth-san._"

I sighed. "Night, Miki-chan,"

We both hung up after that. I stayed lying sprawled out on my bed for a good few minutes before jumping up, which I soon regretted. I winced as I fell back onto my bed and grabbed my ankle. I could already tell that it would be causing me some obvious trouble tomorrow morning.

"Elizabeth?" I heard my uncle's voice echo through the door.

"It's open."

He opened the door, looking somewhat sleepy. "It's getting pretty late, hun."

"I know. I'm going to do a bit of my math and then head to bed."

He nodded, walking over to me and running his hand through my hair. "Have I ever told you, you look like your mother?" he smiled down at me.

"…Thanks," I muttered, turning away.

"But you sure do have your dad's personality." Uncle sighed.

I lightly laughed. My uncle smiled at this fact. He left the room a moment later, closing the door shut. Turning back to my desk, I opened my math book. I jolted down some quick things before closing it shut and heading back over to my bed where I crawled underneath the warm covers.

My thoughts scattered quickly in my mind as I thought over the days I've been here. The days since I have met everyone. The days since I have met Eiji. Before I knew it, time was going by. Fast. I could say they are all my best friends who've already helped me with a lot. Miki, Lucy, Keitaro, Shinji…Momo, even Ryoma, Taka, and Kaidoh too, Oishi, Inui, Fuji, Tezuka…sort of and…Eiji.

I flicked my lip in downright annoyance. This was getting tiring. But I couldn't stop it, no matter how hard I tried. I heaved a sigh. An image of Eiji flashed through my head and all I could focus on was. His. Lips!

"I'm such a pervert." I smacked my forehead.

"_Do you ever question the relationship Kikumaru-san and yourself have?"_

I blinked. Miki words, they sure seemed strange today. I know she asked me something similar a few times before, but today…something was definitely off.

"I shouldn't bother myself with such things." I muttered to myself as I rolled over onto my side. I pulled my covers up further and buried my face halfway underneath them. My face was heating up fast. "Eiji-kun and I… Is Miki…suggesting…that we could be just more than friends?"

My heart thumped against my chest. I'm not sure if it was because I was in fact thinking of Eiji or the very subject of Eiji and I being an actual couple. I tried my best to picture the two of us holding hands, going on dates, and even…kissing.

Just remembering the kiss Eiji and I had once shared made my head go all fuzzy, my cheeks heated up even more than before. I completely hid myself under the covers as I felt tears swell up and my throat clogging with probably soon to be sobs. I'm confused. And I don't like it one bit.

I let out a small sob. "I hate this… I hate this so much."

* * *

I groaned irritably. This was not a good morning.

Naomi made a scowl in displeasurement. "**Emiko-chan. Is. Late**."

"**She probably has a good reason.**" Akane stated.

"**No matter what the reason is this is unacceptable!**" Naomi snapped.

"**Damn, calm down Naomi-chan.**" Mikoto rolled her almost black eyes.

"**You're getting a bit carried away about this upcoming game. Either calm down or I'll make you.**" Akane growled, curling her fingers into the palm of her hand.

Naomi became alarmed of Akane's small threat, though she probably took it as a big one. Muttering something under her breath, Naomi stopped her once incessant foot tapping and plunked herself onto the cold floor of the school gymnasium. Jin had given us permission and Akito the keys to the door.

Akito squealed in apparent shock. We each glanced over at her, I raised a curious brow. Akito blushed in embarrassment as she explained that her cell phone that was located in her back pocket, had begun to vibrate which scared her. Mikoto chuckled in amusement, and I even smiled a little, my day seemingly brightening with a little humor. Akito picked it up and turned away from us. Akane and Mikoto talked about the soon impending game to come with Naomi adding in a few comments of her own here and there.

Finally, Akito announced that Emiko would not be able to make seeing that she had come down with a small fever and was prohibited to leave the house by her parent's word. Naomi cursed and flung herself back onto the ground, clearly upset by the news. Despite the fact that I was a little happy about there being no possible practice today, I did feel a bit sad about it as well, and silently prayed that Emiko would feel better soon, too.

"**Forget it.**" Naomi stated, standing up as she dribbled the basketball. "**We will practice without her today.**"

I nearly fell over.

You've got to be kidding me!

* * *

"Nngh…" I flinched in pain as I lightly touched my ankle that throbbed in pain. I had overdone it when Mikoto tried to get the ball away from me and I side stepped very badly. I ended up bending my foot to the side for a split second. Nevertheless I continued on with practice, ignoring the pain that rain through my body from my ankle.

"**Wow, it's almost dinner time.**" Mikoto commented as she threw a water bottle my way. I caught it in an unfashionable way, which made Mikoto lightly chuckle.

"Ne, Boyer-san…" Akito inched over to me. "As far as I know, the tournament is still going on…" My eyes widened and I almost dropped the bottle of water. "It's almost over, but I'm sure if you run you can get there in no time." I narrowed my eyes. More pressure on my foot? I can imagine the bad outcome from doing that. But… Maybe Eiji still has a match going. Like, this very minute. I jolted up, ignoring the pain.

"We're done, right?" I quickly asked.

Akito immediately nodded.

I grabbed my bag and bolted off towards the exit. "Thanks, Minamino-san!" I hollered at her.

* * *

I was covered in sweat. My throat felt completely dry. And my lungs felt like they were on fire. Even the pain in my ankle I did my best to ignore as I ran as fast as I could to where the tournament was being held. If I could just see a match….Any match. And be able to cheer them on, that was good enough for me. I wanted to see Eiji happy that I came. Eiji's happiness is truly important to me, after all.

"A…Almost there…" I told myself as I turned another corner. My vision started to get just a bit hazy. My stomach didn't feel too great either.

Finally I saw the entrance. I smiled.

"I made it…" I slowed down into a jog. My whole body ached, my foot especially. I tripped, but caught myself. As I came closer, I saw several figures walking out towards me, all wearing happy smiles. My own fell into a frown.

The girl with pink haired looked energetic as she talked to the taller boy, that is, until she noticed me. "Liz-chan?" Lucy blinked.

I finally stopped, breathing heavily now. "D-Damn…" I cursed. "So I di-didn't make it after…all…" my voice trailed off as my heavy breathing continued. My vision become even hazier and I began to see many little dots. I tried to keep myself up by only putting my hands on my knees as I bent down slightly. I felt like puking.

"Are you okay?" I was asked by who I assumed was Oishi. I wasn't quite sure anymore. I could barely see any of them, but I did recognize his voice through the buzzing sound that irritably rang throughout my ears.

I slowly nodded. "Yeah…just a…little…ti…red…"

I listened to multiple voices shout my name as I felt myself drop to my knees and then to the side, where my head met the concrete ground. My vision became no more, and all I could hear was that buzzing sound.

* * *

**LP8:** HA! I TOLD you I would get it finished by tonight!

**Bloodpuppy:** Good job!

**LP8:** Why thank you!

**Bloodpuppy:** Not a very long chapter though.

**LP8:** Shut up. So shit's gonna go down between Eiji and Lizzy next chapter. Should be interesting.

**Both:** Please leave a review~! (To 100 people!) And thanks to: **ThePockyOfDoom** for reviewing last chapter!

**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**


	27. Chapter 27: It's the lust, I SWEAR!

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

I fluttered my eyes open. Beep?

I slowly turned over to take in my new surroundings: an overwhelming brightness of the color eggshell white with objects that looked like…medical equipment? My eyes opened a tiny bit more as realization finally hit me. I was in the hospital, in an uncomfortable, rigid bed.

"W-Why…?" I mumbled in a hoarse, confused sounding voice. Well, I was confused. Confused as to why the hell I was in a hospital.

I think I laid in the bed for a good ten minutes before someone opened the door. An lady who looked to be about in her mid-forties walked in, reading something on her clipboard before looking up and jumping at the sight of me. She seemed to calm down after a moment, and placed a hand up to her chest.

"You sure did give me a fright, young one." She spoke in perfect English. "But I'm glad to see that you are awake. I was specifically asked to be your nurse by the head doctor. We all figured you would probably be too out of it when you awoke to speak in Japanese, so speak in all the English you wish."

I slowly nodded, trying my best to follow her words and movements. She was right. I felt a little out of it, and definitely slow. I could barely even comprehend what was happening all around me at this very moment.

"You over exerted yourself today." She said opening the blinds to reveal the sun that began to hide behind all the city buildings. "Your Guardians asked if we could keep you here overnight. You worried them terribly."

My eye lids lowered. "I'm…sorry."

"No speaking," the nurse put a finger to my lips. "You also scared the friends who brought you here. And yes, I'm trying to make you feel guilty." She smiled down at me. "Rest, you need it."

I nodded, allowing my eye lids to close. Nevertheless, I couldn't go back to sleep. So I opened my eyes again and watched as my nurse did whatever. Before leaving she took notice of my open eyes and told me she will be back to check on me again later, and then left.

With nothing else to do, I turned to look out the window.

"This is…my first time being in a hospital." I mumbled to myself.

"**E-eh…**"

I craned my neck back towards the door where none other than Taka himself stood under the hinge of the door, holding a drink in his hand.

"**Taka-san?**" I said, my voice still sounding scratchy and dry.

"**You're awake…**" he let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "**That's good.**" Just seeing a friends smile made me happy. Taka walked over to me, pulling up the chair that once sat in the corner near me. He even handed me a little paper cup with water as the content in it.

I thanked him and gulped it down. My throat felt refreshed, but still dry and a bit sore. When I finished Taka took the cup and placed it on the nearby table.

"**How are you feeling?**" he asked.

"**A little better…**" I chuckled as I rubbed the back of my neck. My Japanese came out horrible at this moment. Not like I was fluent in the language in the first place. I still had a long way to go. "**And now that I think about it… I came to the hospital in such an embarrassing way.**" I dropped my gaze to my lap, heaving a sigh. I'm such an idiot…

"**A-Ah… No… You had us worried…**" Taka replied.

"**Sorry about that. I hope I didn't pull you guys away from anything too important…?**" My voice trailed off as I tried to read the expressions that ran through Taka's face. "**Did you guys…win?**" Taka smiled, revealing the answer. I beamed. "**That's awesome! I knew you guys could do it!**"

"**Taka-san~, do you have any change, nya?**" Taka shifted around in order to look behind him while I glanced over his shoulder, my hazel eyes slightly widening as they met familiar blue ones. Eiji and I stared at one another for a moment. The room became corrupted in silence for a few good seconds until Eiji smiled. "**You're awake!**" he happily said as he walked over to Taka and I.

"**Y-Yeah…**" I nodded.

"**I'll get you a drink, Eiji-kun.**" Taka offered, standing up and heading towards the door.

"**Ah, thanks.**" Eiji thanked him as he left.

Taka closed the door behind us. Eiji sat down in the chair Taka had once occupied himself.

"**Uh…!**" The two of us started, but quickly shut our mouths. Eiji insisted that I should go first, but I insisted instead that he should be the one. He agreed after a brief moment.

"**How are you feeling?**" he asked.

"**A lot better,**" I replied.

Eiji smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "**Good," **

I nodded. I fiddled with my fingers on my lap, staring down at them. "**Sorry…**" I mumbled, quietly as possible. "**I didn't mean to worry you all. I guess I got a bit carried away. I just…**" I trailed off, feeling more embarrassed than before. Even in front of Eiji I still felt humiliated. I let out a long sigh. "**Sorry,**"

"**It's ok! No need to apologize, nya!**" Eiji replied, giving me a one sided smile as he leaned back.

I examined Eiji's face— whilst trying to avoid looking at his delectab— er, lips —before smiling softly and nodding.

"**It's too bad you didn't make it on time, though. I played some awesome matches!**" Eiji grinned as he looked up. I raised an amused brow.

"**No teasing, mister!**" I jokingly scolded him.

Laughter erupted from the both of us, probably the only bit of happiness this dull feeling hospital even had. It eventually died down, as did the sun. Stars started to come out one by one as Eiji and I sat next to each other in my hospital room. I stared out my window, up at the very little stars. My room began to darken. And when I finally went back to look at Eiji, he was asleep!

"That was…fast…" I blinked in astonishment. "Wish I could do that…"

I watched Eiji's chest rise up and down. He looked calm and peaceful, which was nice to see. My eyes moved away from his chest and once more to his face. Quickly going past his lips, I stared for a good five minutes at the band aid on his cheek. Since the day I've met him he's had that thing on and I was very tempted to rip it right off just to see what he was hiding under it, if anything at all.

I had to lightly slap myself to quit the staring, but the band aid was just so…intriguing.

You've got to admit, it's better than just staring at a white wall and calling it intriguing.

Or is it…

Snapping myself out of _that_ weird thought, I went back to pervertedly (at least I felt like one) examining Eiji's face, but instead, my eyes fell to his lips. And, darn it, they were beautiful looking.

What. The. Hell. Is. Wrong. With. Me…?

Not _only_ was I staring at Eiji's face (for like the millionth time since I've met him, mind you) but I think his lips are beautiful! Insert headdesk here. Too bad I don't have one though.

"I could use the table…" I mumbled to myself.

I shook my head after a brief moment. Don't need to stay in the hospital for head damage.

Anyway, back to Eiji.

Unknowingly at first, I had already made my way towards his face during my time of awkward, perverted to some point, thinking.

My lips were only inches away from his. They were pulsing, as if telling me the only way to get them to stop was to _kiss _Eiji. First time experiencing lust and it sucks, not that it is probably great to have in the first place. My heart and mind seemingly raced each other as my mouth slightly opened. I couldn't stop it. I really couldn't. It felt like the rest of my body froze into place; my hands on Eiji's upper legs and my knees at the edge of the bed. The only thing I could move was my head, but at the same time I couldn't control it. Or perhaps…I didn't want to control it?

My nose brushed against his as my mouth slowly enclosed on his. I felt some sort of jolt of electricity run throughout my body, and what bothered me the most is that…it felt all so right. My lips against Eiji's own. But this was wrong. Completely wrong. Eiji is one of my best friends, and shouldn't be anything more. At least, that's what I constantly thought.

The kiss didn't last long, but it sure did satisfy my lips. I was back in control, so I slowly pulled away, not wanting to wake Eiji up from his slumber.

My ultimate mess up was when I tried to get back on the bed, but my hand slipped on the bedding and I fell into Eiji's lap. In the very least, the two of us did not fall over. And either Eiji is a _very _heavy sleeper or dead. I meant it. He did not wake up. What a weirdo.

"Ow…" I whispered to myself. I brought my ankle that was wrapped up in an ace bandage. It greatly pulsed in pain, but gradually numbed out as I stayed on Eiji's lap, barely moving an inch.

Not only did I kiss him tonight (dear God I took advantage of Eiji!) but now I'm sitting on the poor guys lap.

I feel disgusted with my self.

But nonetheless, I, you know, laid my head on Eiji's shoulder. I just couldn't resist. His lap was pretty comfy.

Sighing, I allowed my eyes to close. Though I wasn't planning to sleep in his lap, I didn't mind just laying there as long as I could, breathing in his scent. Although he was still in his tennis clothes so they smelled like sweat. But it technically was still his scent.

Sort of…

* * *

The room was completely silent. Elizabeth stayed lying on Eiji's shoulder, still awake, but eyes closed. Eiji opened his own. He had the utmost urge to wrap his arms around her, but if she knew he had been awake during the time she kissed him, she would be sure to freak out.

He closed his eyes, listening to the sound of her breathing while she still laid her head on his shoulder.

* * *

**(-Elizabeth-)**

It wasn't too much longer until I got off and back onto my bed _without _slipping this time. Brownie points for me! Where's Miki when I need her?

Eiji woke up maybe fifteen minutes later when my nurse announced to him that it was already nine and visiting hours were over. Eiji said he would visit me tomorrow morning and left.

Which reminds me…where the heck did Taka go? Eh… Probably home.

My night in the hospital was ok. My back ached a bit when I woke up early in the morning, probably because of the stiff bed.

Jun came in the replacement of my guardians, and was surprisingly allowed to sign me out. I thought only a family member could. What a strange hospital. Anyway, as the two of us exited out of the hospital, me on a crutch for my sprained ankle. It was kind of forced on me by the doctor; otherwise I would be walking…or limping. Just slightly though. Back to the point, as we exited the hospital none other than a very pissed off Lucy and surprisingly a pissed off Jasmine walked up to us. Jasmine really just seemed to be following Lucy though while shouting at her in a different language, one that I obviously didn't know.

"Liz-chan!" Lucy exclaimed in utter happiness as she bounced over to me. She wrapped her arms around my waist and nuzzled into my chest. Two awkward days in a row. A record? Will have to check. "I missed you! You had me really worried, you know!" I received a smack on the arm after that.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"If you do that again I'll kill you myself." Lucy threatened. "Now…" she spun around and pointed a finger at Jasmine. "I believe you and I have something to settle."

Jasmine nodded and flipped a piece of her hair. "Yes, yes we do."

"Wish we could've done this yesterday." Lucy sighed.

"Not my fault."

"Yes it is! YOU FORGOT!"

"WELL YOU FORGOT TOO!"

"YOU FORGOT FIRST!"

"…"

"Cat got your tongue." Lucy sneered.

"Shut up! Let's do it here and now. First one who returns to the hospital wins!" Jasmine declared.

"You're on!" Lucy grinned, crossing her arms.

"Oooh, may I partake in this?" Jun curiously asked a hint of excitement showing. "I want to be the one who tells you when to go and announces the winner!"

"Thanks Jun-sensei~!" Lucy happily chimed.

"Yeah, sure." Jasmine shrugged.

"Ready…set…go!" Jun waved her hand down, and the two girls ran off. I sat on the edge of the sidewalk, leaning forward a bit to watch the two disappear around the corner. Well this would take a while, I figured.

"Elizabeth-san!" I turned my head to the right side, taking notice of the slightly large group that walk towards Jun and I. "Miki-chan…and other people." I blinked.

"**How are you feeling, Senpai?**" Momo asked.

"**Much better. Just my ankle now really**." I replied, showing the bandage that went a little past my ankle.

"**You really had us worried.**" Oishi frowned.

"**Sorry, sorry,**" I rubbed the back of my neck in shame.

"**What a way to end up in the hospital.**" Ryoma remarked.

"**You're trying to aggravate me, but I won't play into your little mind game, Echizen-san.**" I told him. In addition, I childishly stuck my tongue out at him.

"**So immature, Senpai.**"

"**As your Senpai, I order you to shut up, Echizen-san.**"

"**Now, now…**" Oishi stepped in between the two of us.

"**I say we go out and celebrate Senpai's release from the hospital!**" Momo suggested.

"**We could get some sushi from Taka-san's place, nya!**" Eiji grinned.

"**You guys don't have to do that…**" I blushed from embarrassment.

"**C'mon, it'll be fun!**" Momo roughly patted my back.

"**And I don't mind…**" Taka shyly smiled.

After a moment I sighed. "**Fine, fine,**" I craned my head up towards Jun. "Jun, why did I have to stay in the hospital over night?" I asked, reverting back into English.

"Because your uncle thought it would be safer for you."

"Safer?"

"When Jenny was looking at you sleep she had murderous intent in her eyes."

"…Can I stay at your place tonight?"

"Sure, sweetie,"

"**What exactly are we sitting around for?**" Miki questioned as she took a seat on the ground next to me.

"**Lucy-chan and Jasmine-san are having a race. We are waiting to see who returns first.**" I replied in a bored sounding tone.

"**Fun,**"

"**You bet'cha,**"

"**How long have they been gone?**" Oishi curiously asked.

"**No longer than about five…ten minutes now,**" I estimated.

"**They both seem to have a fifty-fifty percent chance of wining.**" Inui spoke.

Shouts in some other language were heard, it becoming louder and louder with each minute that passed. Eventually, the two were spotted both running at a very fast speed. Evidently they both were giving it their all. Jun watched carefully as both quickly approached her, and finally she waved her arm down.

"**Now before either of you go saying I'm picking a favorite, remember that I am your Sensei and no matter what I pick the true winner, so no complaining.**" Jun started at the two girls who huffed and puffed on the ground. "**I'm sorry Jasmine-san, but Lucy-san had beaten you by a mere inch.**"

Jasmine jumped up in complete shock. "**WHAT?**" she screeched.

"**YES!" **Lucy pumped her fist into the air.

Jasmine lowly growled, clenching her fists. "**Dammit…**"

Lucy childishly stuck her tongue out. "**Take that! Also, stay away from Fuji-senpai! You'll just taint him!**"

Jasmine whipped around, glaring at Lucy. "**I can go near anyone I want!**" she huffed and crossed her arms. "**But I **_**did **_**lose, so I'll take my leave. For now, that is. I shall not give up on Fuji-senpai! And if you don't confess to him **_**I **_**will!**" with that, Jasmine quickly left, leaving a speechless Lucy behind.

"**O-OH YEAH! WE'LL SEE!**" she shouted after her.

I placed both my hands on her shoulder. "Lucy, calm down." I told her. "Fuji-san is right over there…" I nodded my head towards Fuji.

Lucy scoffed and turned away.

"**Never a dull moment…**" Momo whistled.

It was for me before coming here, I thought in regards to Momo's comment.

"**Now that we are all together…**" Jun came up from behind Ryoma and I, putting her hands on both of our backs and pushing us forward. "**Let's go eat!**"

* * *

My second time eating in Taka's dad's sushi place was rather interesting, just like the first one. Momo and Eiji attempted to steal some of my sushi, but I was able to pull the plate away just in time. In the end though, Fuji ended up taking one.

Jerk.

Lucy talked non-stop to him, which made me a bit curious as to when her feelings of hatred for Fuji changed. I guess I should be grateful that she doesn't hate him. Fuji didn't seem to mind all her talking. In fact, he seemed rather amused and interested in all she had to say. Most of the time he just nodded, but he did input a few comments here and there. And when they changed the topic to photography, Fuji talked even more. But I like to think it's because they were no longer talking about Lucy's cat, Neko-sama.

Jun seemed to relatively enjoy being in the company of younger people, saying it made her feel young again too. She also had a long talk with Taka's father, who hosted this sudden, little 'lunch party' of ours.

And can you believe it? I had a conversation with Kaidoh. _Kaidoh!_ It didn't last all that long, but still. _We talked. _Personally, I thought he didn't really like me, but he actually didn't seem to mind me starting a conversation with him. Maybe all I needed to do was hang out with him a little more.

Momo and Kaidoh got into a small argument during our lunch. I'm not sure what it was about since I had started talking with Miki and kind of tuned out everyone else. But they grabbed each other by the neck of their shirts, and before they could do anything else Jun stepped in, smacking them both upside the head and scolded them for acting like children.

I told you my second time here was rather interesting.

* * *

"**See you kids later. Make sure Elizabeth gets home safe and sound! As well as yourselves!**" Jun hollered as she jogged back to where she had parked her car.

We all waved, saying our goodbyes to Jun as we walked around a corner.

"Want to come over for a bit?" I whispered to Miki.

"Not particularly. I have things at home to do."

"I need to talk to you."

"Bringing your problems to me?"

"You didn't seem to mind before."

"I was offering then. Am I offering now? No. But I'll listen later anyhow."

"Thanks,"

"I want dinner."

"Sure. Aunt Jenny and Uncle James will be pleased to see you again anyway."

"Ah yes. Oh, and if I have to listen to your problem or whatever it may be, then I want full details, not some half-ass stuff."

"Yes ma'am," I jokingly saluted Miki to which she rolled her eyes at. Smiling, I turned back towards the others who were either chatting away with one another or being as quiet as a mouse, like Kaidoh for example.

Taka only went so far with us before turning back around and heading back home, saying he needed to help his dad with the shop. Kaidoh and Oishi eventually left as well, and soon Fuji and Lucy too. Momo and Ryoma also parted ways with us as we closed in on Ryoma's place. Eiji left soon after that, saying he wanted to walk around a little more before going home himself. He seemed to have this dazed look, but I tried my best to not think too much about it as Miki and I continued our way to my house.

"Since Kikumaru-san and the others are no longer accompanying us," Miki started, "shall we talk about whatever it is that is on your mind now or save it for when we are in the safety of your bedroom?"

"I'd prefer sooner than later."

"Then spill,"

"I kissed Eiji-kun last night."

"Did you admit your undying love to him? Or did the kiss pretty much explain it all?"

"It wasn't out of love, it was out of lust."

"If he heard you say that, he'd be crushed."

"He doesn't know I kissed him."

Miki stopped to look at me. "What?"

I fumbled with my crutch, trying to get it into a better position under my arm. "He was asleep. I couldn't exactly control myself either. I was thinking of…things…and when I finally came out of 'la la land'; my face was practically shoved into his."

"Taking advantage of boys when you barely know a thing about romance? Next time he's going to be asleep in his bed, and when you come out of 'la la land' you'll be on top of him, naked, and tugging at his pants."

"Miki, I just had a really bad mental image of that. Thanks,"

Miki mischievously smiled. "That's what I'm here for."

"I doubt I'm lusting that much after him," I continued. "I'm pretty sure it's just his lips, thank you very much."

"We will see,"

One glare later…

"My own felt satisfied after the kiss, though." I tapped my chin, staring off ahead of me.

Miki sighed. "So did you even think about what I said on the phone the other day?"

"Slightly, yes. You made me cry."

"If you are looking for sympathy, you are not getting any."

"Best. Friend. Ever."

"Damn straight,"

It was my turn to sigh. "I'm still a bit confused. I think it's the lust. But then again, I might just be lying to myself. After thinking about what you were trying to hint at me, which I'm assuming is more than friendship like... Well, maybe I _do _like Eiji-kun, but don't just want to admit it to myself. Feelings that aren't possibly friendship based are confusing. So confusing to the point of where it hurts."

"Poor, poor sheltered child." Miki mocked.

"Not my fault," I pouted. I sighed again. "Maybe I should ask an adult about this. I probably need some advice from someone who can really understand. No offense or anything."

"None taken. So, praying that you just want it to be his lips?"

Looking up a bit, I furrowed my brows together. "I'm not…sure…"

I could feel Miki's gaze upon me. I lowered my head and smiled at her. "It's alright. I'll be fine. Maybe I'll ask Jun about it, but I'd like to venture further in it by myself. Just to see what I can find out on my own for once."

"That's probably a wise decision. But if you do end up realizing you do in fact have feelings for Kikumaru-san, just what exactly will you do?"

"Not sure. It'll probably come to me when the time is right."

"Ah," Finally, Miki and I started our walk to my house again.

Miki pushed her glasses up. "So…"

"I still think it's the lust."

"Fine,"

* * *

**Enjoy the long note:**

**LP8: **Bleh. Horrible chapter. Especially the end. I couldn't think straight the whole time. Anyway, no Bloodpuppy with me today.

Thanks to: **celtic27fionn****, ****kur-chan****, ****.67****, TotalPrinceofTennisFan07 (100****th**** reviewer! WOOOOO!), ****Phantom R2****, Bearded Lady, and Ika.** Thank you all for reviewing last chapter, and helping Bloodpuppy and I make it to 100! (Insert little hearts here).

Yes, OMG, yes. Elizabeth IS contemplating her feelings. Even though she's more convinced that it's lust. But at least she's thinking a little about there being possible feelings for Eiji, right? _Right? _Though these probably won't be mentioned again all that much, since I don't want her to figure anything out (or if anything at all xP) too soon. But a little contempation is good once in a while, right?

I hated writing Ryoma. It's just so... Ugh. I love him to bits, but I hate writing him because I guess I'm just no good at his character? I even went back and read the first few chapters of the manga, and some Fanfics centered on Ryoma here in order to see how everyone else portrayed him (like get my own feel of it?). I thought it would do me some good and would help me a little. It kind of did, but still UGH. I did find some stories I liked though. xD

Elizabeth falling onto Eiji's lap: It was not originally planned, but I got bored and a little brain dead on what to write next, so...tada~...

I'm not particularly proud of this chapter. Like I said, I had problems near the end. Anyway, enough about my complaining. I'm thinking really hard about the next chapter (I have all the rest planned out, but this idea kind of just randomly popped into my head as I wrote the hospital part). Like, maybe follow Eiji for a day? Not in his POV (like hell would I do that. You guys would never see an update because I'd be changing it constantly to make sure he is not too OOC. xD) but like normal POV or whatever. Your thoughts? Not sure if it will really happen, but still, I'd like your guys' thoughts on it.

I'm not so keen on how well I did the hospital shit. I've barely ever really been in one. Don't remember much from when I was little, but I had to accompany a friend to one a couple of times in the past seven months and that's about it.

I want Elizabeth's nurse to be my nurse if I were to ever wake up in a hospital. Just sayin'.

I want to put in more Kaidoh, 'cause I'm a Kaidoh fan. I'm actually more of a Kaidoh fan than an Eiji. My friends think I'm weird. Then again, I'm bad at Kaidoh's character. Booo.

**ONE MORE THING:** The next 18 days are going to be pretty damn hectic for me. Not only do I have several tests that I still need to do some studying for coming up, but I've got an anime convention coming up as well and there are still things I need to get (thanks to a lot of stuff getting back ordered and money once being a little tight). I'm probably going to stay up all night tonight just to style my brother's Inuyasha wig and research a few things that I'll be needing to get extremely soon. Some things I need to make (BLEH). So, like I said, a little hectic with not much time and such. Once I can figure out what I'll be doing for the next chapter EXACTLY I will try to start on it. Er... no promises. I do hope to get in another update before I leave though. That's one of the things on my To Do List before I leave.

Damn, I'm rambled a lot. Now I'm craving Chinese food.

Please leave a review~? Would very much appreciate it! And sorry about all the rambels. It just...kind of happened? xD

**~LP8**


	28. Chapter 28: Pain

Sweat beaded down the side of his neck. He raced to the other side of the net, swinging his racquet once the ball had made contact with the middle of it. It was another day of practice under the hot sun. His opponent? Echizen Ryoma. Eiji rather enjoyed playing one-on-one match with O'chibi occasionally. He was good, Eiji had to admit, this Ryoma kid.

An equal amount of sweat also beaded down Ryoma's neck, his upper shirt dampening slightly. The match had been going on for some time now. Occasionally, Ryoma would catch sight of his Senpai's facial expression. Something seemed to be bothering him, but he wouldn't let him off the hook just for that. Ryoma swung hard, serving the ball back to his Senpai, who now paid no attention to the match. Instead, he was staring off into a small group of people. His smile had turned into a frown and his eye brows furrowed together as if he was in deep thought. Ryoma blinked, wondering what in the world could distract his Senpai from the practice match.

He opened his mouth, wanting to warn his Senpai of the oncoming ball, but had no chance to as the ball connected with the side of Eiji's face. Eiji let out a yelp as he stumbled backwards, a pout forming soon after.

"**Mada mada dane, Senpai,**" Ryoma remarked, his arm falling to his side.

"**That hurt, nya~,**" Eiji childishly said.

Ryoma ignored his Senpai's whines as he craned his neck to where Eiji had once been staring. A familiar face came into his view. Her curly auburn hair was put into a high pony tail today. Her crutch preoccupied one arm, while her other hand was wrapped around the fence, fingers laced into the small holes. She stared at Eiji with a mixed expression, one of worry and amusement.

Ryoma turned his gaze back to his Senpai. Eiji now stood, rubbing his red cheek as Oishi walked over and asked if he was alright.

Turning his heel, Ryoma walked over to the bench and grabbed a towel, wiping the sweat away.

"**Eiji-senpai sure seems distracted today.**" Momo rubbed the back of his neck.

Ryoma narrowed his eyes. "**Ah,**"

* * *

Now back into his clean, fresh smelling uniform, Eiji walked with his group of friends towards the gate. He stuffed one hand into his pocket; his other was occupied with his school bag that he had slung over his shoulder. Eiji let out a yawn.

"**I'm falling over!**"

"**Ah! Liz-chan!**"

Eiji gazed over to a nearby sakura tree, where a familiar group of five hung around. Taking notice of the curly auburn hair, a smile made its way to Eiji's face.

"**That hurt!**" Elizabeth clenched her eyes shut as she lightly gripped her hurt ankle.

"**Sorry,**" Shinji apologized, grabbing her crutch. "**Ah, it's missing a bolt.**"

"**Eh? !**" Elizabeth frowned.

The smile from Eiji's face disappeared and was replaced with a frown of his own as he felt a small twinge at his heart. Eiji gripped his shirt.

"**This sucks**," Elizabeth sighed. "**I'm going to have to go to the hospital just to get it fixed. Either that or a new one.**"

"**But are you not supposed to be walking around on that ankle of yours for another week?**" Keitaro lifted a brow.

"**Yeah…**" she sighed again.

"**Eiji-kun?**" Oishi slightly turned to look at Eiji.

Telling Oishi he would see him tomorrow, Eiji hastily made his way over to the group, unnoticed by only a few, one being Elizabeth who sat on the ground who frowned away. Eiji smiled as he glomped her from behind, his usual greeting. Elizabeth let out a surprised gasp, but calmed almost immediately.

"**Eiji-kun, that wasn't funny.**" Eiji smiled at the hint of laughter in her voice.

"**Sorry, sorry,**" Eiji released her. "**Are you okay?**"

She nodded, her smile slightly faltering as she glanced over at her clutch. "**Sort of… It seems one of my bolts are missing. Now that I think about it, that's probably why I fell…**" she trailed off, glancing down at her bandaged ankle. "**And now I have to go to the hospital to get a new one.**" She let out another long sigh.

Eiji already knew this much, but playing the oblivious boy wouldn't so bad, now would it? And perhaps…

"**Don't worry, Liz-chan! I'll search the whole school to find your missing bolt!**" Lucy proudly exclaimed, knocking Eiji out of his thoughts. "**C'mon, Kei-chan! Let's start the hunt**!" she grabbed a fist full of Keitaro's shirt and dragged him away. He let out loud sobs as she did so.

"**Think he'll be ok…?**"

"**Nope**," Miki uninterestedly replied to Shinji's question.

Eiji let out a laugh, finding Elizabeth's friends to be quite humorous.

"**I hope they don't get into any trouble...**" Elizabeth shook her head.

Miki crossed her arms and side glanced at Lizzy. "**Shouldn't you be going to the hospital now? The sooner you get a new one, the better.**"

"**I would if I could but I can't.**" Elizabeth muttered. Her eye brows knitted together in utter irritation, and Eiji couldn't blame her.

"**I'll take you!**"

Elizabeth looked back and forth between Shinji and Eiji. The two had accidentally simultaneously said the same thing.

Shinji smiled down at Eiji, whose own facial expression was a mixture of confusion, a twinge of happiness, and seemingly a little irritation.

Eiji stared back up at him, his heart pounding a little faster than usual. Just having Shinji offer to take Elizabeth anywhere made him feel weird. Just like the time where Lizzy had taken them all out to eat, and he had tried to feed her a piece of meat because she had not ordered anything for herself. Eiji recalled eating the meat himself, barely noticing what he had done. All he truly remembered was a strange feeling in his chest, and his mind taking over his body.

"**You should be the one to take her, Kikumaru-san**." Shinji told him.

Eiji hesitantly nodded. Shinji dismissed himself, as did Miki. The two walked away, leaving Elizabeth and Eiji to themselves.

"**You really do not have to take me, Eiji-kun.**" She told him.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Eiji shook his head. His smile returned. He assured her that it was alright and wanted to take her. In his eye, she seemed uneasy. She was easily able to become flustered around him, more often than before.

Recollections of how shy yet blunt, and how uneasy she seemed to be when she first moved here flashed through Eiji's mind. Gradually she grew out of it, becoming more comfortable around Eiji and the others. Perhaps that was because they were once divided by a language barrier. But she learned quickly, able to grasp the language well, though had a little trouble at first.

Eiji smiled as he remembered that one time he had passed a classroom late in the day that was only occupied by three people, the three being Amu Miki, Fujiwaka Keitaro and Boyer Elizabeth. The two native Japanese friends of her were, of course, trying their best to teach her. Eiji couldn't help but think of how cute her pout was when Miki scolded her for getting something wrong and how Keitaro would pat her head when she got something right, much to her dismay.

"**Eiji-kun…?**" Eiji was brought out of his thoughts when Elizabeth waved her hand in front of his face. "**Shouldn't we get going? The sun is just starting to go down.**"

Eiji nodded, stood up, and then bent down in front of Elizabeth. "**Get on,**"

She stared dumbfounded at his back for a brief moment. "**Can't you just support me? I do have one foot I can, you know, hop on?**"

"**Nuh-uh,**" Eiji refused. "**This way will be much better, so c'mon!**"

Eiji could feel the air become heavy with uneasiness and hesitation. Elizabeth agreed moments later, carefully climbing onto his back. She tightly gripped his shoulders as Eiji reached back, gently grabbing her leg and avoiding her hurt ankle, and brought it around so that they would be correctly placed on his waist. He stood up nice and slow, and then glanced at the two school bags in his hand.

"**I'll hold them.**" Elizabeth insisted. She reached down to grab them, her fingers softly brushing against his. She pulled back almost immediately. Eiji almost frowned, but brightened up quickly as he turned his heel and began heading back towards the school gate. "**Sorry about this, Eiji-kun.**" Elizabeth mumbled, her fingers relaxing more on his shoulders.

Eiji laughed. "**It's ok, nya! I wanted to take you!**"

"**Th-thanks… I mean it,**"

"**You're welcome!**"

Elizabeth leaned in closer. "**So how was practice?**"

"**Hot,**" Eiji pouted.

Elizabeth couldn't help but giggle. "**It was pretty warm today. It's starting to cool down now, though. It feels nice after a long day.**"

Eiji nodded. "**Yeah,**"

Moments later, Elizabeth spoke again, "**Did you know we have a science test coming up?**"

"**Huh? !**"

"**Yep, I knew you weren't paying attention to anything in class today. Oh, and by the way, I'm just pulling your leg. We don't have one coming up.**"

Eiji let out a huge sigh of relief.

"**What's up with you today, Eiji-kun? You've been acting strangely since I came back from the hospital the other day.**" Eiji's muscles tensed. Memory from the night in the hospital flashed through his mind. How Elizabeth's lips felt against his. So warm, so sweet…

Eiji could feel his face heating up. "_**This isn't the time, dammit…**_" he sighed inwardly.

"**Eiji-kun?**"

"**I'm fine! Just feeling a bit under the weather lately, that's all!**" Eiji awkwardly laughed, though he hoped she wouldn't notice.

"**If you're not feeling good then you should go home. I can make it to the hospital on my own just fine.**" Elizabeth stated her worry for Eiji showing not only in her expression, but also in her voice.

"Nope~," Eiji replied. "I already told you I would take you, so I am going to take you."

Elizabeth puffed her cheeks. Eiji was going to be stubborn about this that is for sure. "**Fine, but if you come down with a fever tomorrow morning, I will not be held responsible!**"

Eiji tried his best to stifle a laugh, but couldn't suppress a small chuckle.

Elizabeth was not amused by the enjoyment Eiji got out of her reply. She could not help the smile that made its way to her lips, though. Hearing Eiji's laughter after a long day brought her high in spirit.

* * *

They rounded the corner, the hospital now in full view. An old couple exited as the two entered. Eiji carefully sat Elizabeth down on a chair, the broken clutch in his grasp as he walked to the front desk.

"**Uhm…**" the woman behind it momentarily glanced up at Eiji before looking back to the papers in front of her.

"**What can I help you with?**" she questioned.

"**My friend's crutch is missing a bolt and she can't find it**." Eiji replied, lifting the clutch up to show her.

"**Ah, I see.**" She slid back away from her desk. "**I'll get you a new one. You can just put that one on the counter. I'll be right back.**" Eiji nodded and watched the unsmiling lady leave. He did as he was told to and placed the crutch on the counter, the lady coming back with a new one moments later.

"**May I have her name?**" she asked, sitting back down, her hands hovering over the white keyboard.

"**Boyer Elizabeth**," Eiji replied.

"**Have a good day,**" she then told him, her typing put to a halt. Eiji smiled, turned and headed back to Elizabeth.

"**Thank you so much, Eiji-kun!**" Elizabeth smiled.

"**No problem, nya!**"

Elizabeth stood up with ease, now on her crutch. The two walked back out, the sun just almost setting.

"**That was faster than I thought it would be.**" She commented.

Eiji nodded, agreeing with Elizabeth.

"**You should head home. You said you weren't feeling too well, right?**" she looked up with a worried expression.

"**Mm…yeah,**"

"**Then let's get you home**!" Elizabeth slipped her hand into Eiji's with ease. Eiji jumped a bit at her sudden touch. Heat almost immediately had risen to his cheeks, his heart thumping against his chest. Even though Eiji felt this way whenever he came into contact with her, he still couldn't get used to it. It was strange, feeling this way that is. And after so long of having her around, Eiji could just never get rid of this weird feeling. He never really questioned it much, however. But lately it had begun to haunt his mind more and more, and he didn't understand why. "**If you start to feel dizzy, you can lean on me.**" Oh was he feeling dizzy all right.

"_**Maybe I am a little under the weather…**_" he sighed inwardly.

"**Eiji-kun?**"

"**Ah! Ok,**" Eiji awkwardly laughed.

Elizabeth titled her head to the side, a little worried about Eiji.

"**Let's go, nya!**" Eiji tugged at her hand.

"**Ah! Eiji-kun I'm on a crutch! Please don't pul—aaaah!**" Eiji cringed when Elizabeth face planted into the ground, her fingers twitched ever so slightly.

"**Are you okay, nya? !**" Eiji frantically asked as he dropped to his knees.

"**Y-Yeah…I think…**" Elizabeth mumbled her face still smothered in the ground.

"**Sorry, sorry! I forgot!**" Eiji apologized.

"**It's fine, really.**" Elizabeth replied. She finally pushed herself up and into a sitting position where she revealed her dirty and slightly scratched face to Eiji.

A frown immediately made its way to Eiji's lips. His eyes never left the little scrap on her lower left cheek. It was his fault that she had gotten hurt, after all. He was the one who pulled her hand. Of course, it was on accident. He had truly forgotten about her being on a crutch. A tiny bit of guilt clutched at his heart.

Upon seeing his frown, Elizabeth tried her best to assure him that it was fine and that one tiny little scratch was not going to kill her.

Her rants were cut off when she noticed Eiji coming closer. She froze in place, heart thumping against her chest. Her eyes widened when Eiji firmly placed his hands on her shoulders and pressed his lips against her cut. A shiver ran up her spine, but it wasn't out of fear. In fact it was out of…excitement. Though knowing this only made Lizzy freak out a little more on the inside. Excitement? How could she feel excitement? And why…why was Eiji doing this?

Her lips began their tingling sensation once more. Eiji pulled away, but halted as he looked at her face. A light blush had spread across the bridge of her nose to both of her cheeks. Her wide hazel eyes gradually went back to normal size.

"**Sorry…**" Eiji mumbled as he gently traced his fingers over her scratch.

Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but the only thing that would come out was confused sounds such as 'Ah', 'Uhm', and 'Ehh'. Her mind went completely blank. All she could do was stare at Eiji, who stared right back at her, his usual chipper demeanor was replaced with being calm, focused and sharp.

"**Eiji-ku-**," but once more, her hazel eyes popped open when Eiji smashed his lips on hers.

Elizabeth felt her heart skip a beat. However, she did not push Eiji away. It's not like she could anyway. Her mind once more took control of her body, her lips pressing against in order to deepen the kiss.

Noticing how Lizzy wasn't rejecting, but going along with it, Eiji wrapped his arms around her, but before Lizzy could snake her hands around the back of his neck, Eiji's own blue eyes snapped open and he pushed away.

"**What did I…**?" Eiji muttered, his gaze falling to his lap. He raised a hand over his mouth and quickly shot up. "**Sorry…**" he then quickly turned his heel and bolted off.

"**Eiji-kun**!" Lizzy shouted after, bolting up as well but as she went to take a step forward, she fell back to the ground, wincing at the pain that shot up from her foot. Her gaze stayed at the ground, not being able to lift her head up as a sharper pain pierced at her heart. "It hurts… It really hurts… Eiji-kun… I don't understand…"

* * *

"Kei-chan! You are terrible at finding things!"

"But Lu-chan~! Why do we even need to bother finding it? Liz-chan probably already went to the hospital and got a new one."

Lucy crossed her arms. "I told her I would find it so I will find it! There! Search under that desk!"

Keitaro huffed. "Not only are we uselessly searching for something Liz-chan won't even need, but we're also inside our school after school hours! We are going to be in so much trouble if we get caught."

"Meh, like I really care." Lucy dully shrugged.

"I do!"

"I don't care about what you care about."

"I know you don't… evil witch."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, I swear!"

"Oh! A shiny~!" Lucy beamed as she bent down, picking up the shiny.

"Ah… Isn't that the bolt?" Keitaro bluntly pointed out.

"It is! Ha! I'm such a great hunter!"

"Woohoo. Great. Wonderful. Can I go home now?"

"Nope~! We're gonna go out for some ice cream~! Abigail-san doesn't close for another hour. Now let's go!" Lucy happily said as she grabbed another fist full of Keitaro's shirt and dragged him away.

"Why me~?"

* * *

**LP8: **I have no confidence in this chapter what-so-ever. xD Bloodpuppy would be with me right now, but she and our friend Jenny is already asleep. So I'm posting this right before we leave in the morning. Uh…so I tried my best with this chapter, but I had gotten a really bad case of writers block like halfway through. I know where I wanted to go with it, but I wasn't sure how to get there…? Haha! Anyway…I have nothing to say, really. Haha! But Bloodpuppy wanted me to thank you all so very (insertBloodpuppy'sword_fucking_) much on the 110 reviews! She really loves you all!

I was going to end the whole thing with Eiji and Elizabeth differently, but Bloodpuppy insisted (no, more like she threatened me if I didn't end it the way it ended) that I ended it the way I originally wrote.

Thanks to: **Bearded Lady, ****Uzumaki . Arashi.67****, ****ThePockyOfDoom****, ****DarkContessa****, ****mewmewlover23****, and ****TheSteelFlameAlchemist**for reviewing last chapter! Thanks you guys!

I outta head to bed. We're leaving for the convention extremely early in the morning.

G'night and do please leave a review!

**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**


	29. Chapter 29: It Was Never

I threw my covers over my head and buried my face into my pillow, finding comfort in them. I really did not feel like going to school. It would be too awkward after what happened yesterday. I could feel my cheeks heating up, my mind replaying the incident.

I frowned, remembering how Eiji ran away and never came back. I ended up staying on the ground for a good ten minutes before picking myself up and heading home, tears swelling up in my eyes. I had eaten dinner in silence and then headed up to my room where I allowed the darkness to consume me, and now it was morning.

"Elizabeth, it's time to get up. You'll be late for school." I let out an irritated groan as I buried my face further into my pillow, trying to block the voice of my uncle. He knocked several more times, calling out my name each time, before finally opening the door and walking over to the side of my bed. "Elizabeth, what do you think you are doing?"

"Sleeping," I replied, though it was muffled.

My uncle sat down and gently began to rub my back. "You have school today, sweetie. You can sleep in on Sunday."

"I don't feel good."

"What part of you doesn't feel good?"

"My stomach and I have a headache." I lied.

"Hm… I see…" the two of us were as quiet as a mouse for the next minute and a half. Sensing my uncle wasn't going to leave until I showed my face, I shifted around under my covers and sat up, using my arms as my support.

"Can I please stay home today?" I asked.

Uncle James let out a long sigh before nodded. "Yes, but I'm afraid to say you'll be home alone. I have to go to work and your aunt is going to visit a friend of hers soon."

"That's fine," I replied and face planted back into my pillows.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes,"

"I'll inform the school, then." Uncle James let out another sigh and stood up. "I'll see you around dinner time then. Try and get some fresh air today."

"I will,"

I listened to the sound of his feet pounding against my floor as he exited my room, shutting the door on his way out. I let out a long, loud sigh that helped rid of the awkward silence that had filled my room during the time my uncle was here.

I skipped out on having breakfast with my aunt and uncle. Before my aunt had left, moments after my uncle did, she told me she had wrapped my breakfast up and placed it in the fridge. Soon after her departure, I forced myself out of bed and walked downstairs and into the kitchen where I heated my breakfast up and ate in silence, something I happened to be quite used to.

My chopsticks lingered near my mouth as my eyelids lowered a bit. Memories of when I was a small child flash through my mind. I remember waking up and going downstairs to find the house empty, and my breakfast on the counter with a small note from my parents. I had always eaten alone, expect for Sunday. On Sunday, I did in fact eat breakfast with parents, so it actually wasn't all that bad.

I sighed. "I shouldn't be thinking about this. It'll only bring tears." I told myself as I gathered my dishes and walked over to the sink.

After washing my dishes, I headed back up to my room and sat down at my desk. I took out some of my textbooks from my bag and opened them up. I figured a little studying would do me some good, seeing as how I'm not attending school today. It was only fair. Or…at least that's what I liked to think.

* * *

I spent a good four hours studying. I would have spent more, but my eyes were beginning to hurt. I decided I would watch T.V and possibly take a nap, since I had nothing better to do and my aunt wouldn't be home until dinnertime.

I headed down stairs where I flopped myself onto the couch and turned on the T.V, flipping through the channels until I found a random cartoon. I watched it for a good ten minutes before flipping the channel to some Japanese drama show. And I have to admit, it was better than the American ones, so I ended up watching that until I fell asleep.

* * *

I slept through lunch, and almost until dinnertime. When I awoke, Aunt Jenny was not home, and I was hungry. I scrounged around in the kitchen for something simple to snack on until my aunt came home to make dinner. Sadly, there was nothing to really snack on unless I made it, but I really didn't want to do that. So I decided, after a few more growls coming from my stomach, that I would go out and grab something. I had money, money I had saved up from when my parents had spare change. When I had arrived here in Japan quite some time ago now, my uncle had taken me to the bank where we converted my normal US dollars into Japanese ones.

I headed up stairs and changed into a simple light blue tank top and jeans. Afterwards, I grabbed my wallet and headed back downstairs where I put my shoes on and headed out the door, locking it and stuffing the key into my pants pocket.

The fresh, late afternoon air felt nice on my skin. I breathed it in for my first time today and smiled. Being outdoors was quite nice after an almost full day in the house.

As I rounded the corner into the market area, I took notice of the familiar school uniforms, uniforms of Seigaku. "That's right; school has already been let out…" I muttered to myself as I passed by a couple of girls who were window-shopping. They commented in their high, girly voices of theirs about how cute a pair of shoes were and moaned, and groaned about how poor they were, but wanted to come back another time to get them. Typical, I thought. This was a normal behavior between a couple of friends, yes? I've seen it on T.V!

"If that's a normal teenage girl behavior…why don't Miki or Lucy and I do it?" I tapped my chin in thought.

Maybe everyone is different after all…

I shrugged. Oh well.

"Hey, why don't we go see a movie?"

I turned my head, taking notice of an older couple, a boy and a girl, looking at posters of new or upcoming movies.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan." They both laughed, smiles plastered on their faces.

A frown made its way to my face as I felt my heart tighten. Eiji's smiling face popped into my mind almost immediately, and as I clenched my eyes shut, and brought my clenched fists up to my eyes, I could hear his laughter, but thankfully, the vision began to slowly fade away as did his laughter. My eyes soon slowly opened, and I unclenched my fists.

"_Do you ever question the relationship Kikumaru-san and yourself have?_"

Do you just hate it how your best friend can just somehow invade your mind, repeating a question she had once asked you before? Yeah, Miki sucks.

However, the question never left my mind as I stood there, in the middle of the sidewalk, just staring down at the ground as people passed by me. My relationship with Eiji…since the first day I met him, our relationship had just been friendship based. I never expected anything more than that, and really, I don't think I want to. I've watched T.V, I have seen practically best friends end up…you know…together, but in the end, it never works out, and it just leaves such a major awkward feeling between the two that they begin to distance from one another. That is something I absolutely do not want to have happen to Eiji and I. I cannot bear to lose him; he is just so…dear to me.

I felt my heart skip a beat. Dear to me… Sure, many people nowadays were dear to me. Ever since I arrived here in Japan, it seems I have just been meeting people who don't seem to be leaving my life anytime soon, therefore, we become closer and soon enough, I come to love them. Eiji though, he was a different case. My love…was completely different from the love I had for my guardians, for Miki, Lucy, Keitaro, Shinji, and even Momo, Ryoma and all the others. Never around them would my heart ever skip a beat, would my hands began to sweat uncontrollably, would my mind practically go blank every time we were close to one another, and never would my lips act in such a strange way for them. No, this only happened with Eiji.

I almost dropped to the ground at the moment, for my knees seemed to buckle as realization hit me like a ton of bricks. Thankfully, though, my crutch is what kept me up.

When someone's shoulder slammed into mine, I apologized and walked over to a nearby bench that was located under a tree, which gave me some nice needed shade. My hands shook as I brought them up to my face, resting my palms on my forehead as I stared down at my lap. I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. I could have sworn it was…lust. That was the best possible explanation I could come up with, seeing as how I never thought I could feel this way for Eiji. Then again, I never thought I would experience lust for his lips, either. Ah…but then _again _if my assumptions are correct, which I am damn sure they are I never actually experienced lust for his lips.

It was never lust…

It was…

Well…

Er…

Uh…

Erm…

DAMMIT, WHY CAN'T IT BE LUST?

"I just don't want to admit it to myself…" I groaned and face palmed.

"Admit what?"

"Admit what I feel for Eiji-kun…" I muttered.

I blinked. Wait – what?

I glanced up, only to come face to face with the one and only, Fuji.

Shoot.

"Fuji-san!" I exclaimed aloud in shock.

Fuji smiled at me, waving his hand as I calmed myself. He asked if he could sit next to me, but instead I got up and asked if he wanted to walk around. Fuji agreed to that so we set off to wherever our feet would end up taking us.

"Er…" I embarrassingly looked down to the ground. "Did you…happen to hear what I muttered?"

I could see his smile widen a bit. "Yup,"

I almost fainted.

Fuji chuckled.

Jerk.

"Can you _please _not mention that to anyone? I'm still trying to figure things out here." I asked of him, clapping my hands together and placing them in front of my face in a sort of begging tone.

"All right," he agreed, to which I beamed. However… I had to tell him everything as we walked towards a new destination, Taka Dad's sushi shop. The two of us were in fact, hungry, so Fuji said he would pay as long as I told him the whole story. I reluctantly agreed.

As we sat down to eat, greeted warmly by Taka's father, I slowly began to tell him the story while we waited for our sushi. Fuji nodded, never interrupting even when I took a long pause. He only listened. When I was finished, our sushi finally arrived and I dug right into it.

"Saa, I see, I see…" Fuji said, his smile faltering a little.

"Yeah, it's pretty confusing." I said with a slight nod. "But I know… I'll figure it out."

Fuji rested his shoulder on the table, and placed the palm of his hand under his chin as he looked over at me, humming. I plopped a piece of sushi into my mouth, and chewed as I looked over at him. "What?" I asked a moment later. "Don't stare at me like that. It's somewhat creepy. No offense or anything."

"None taken,"

"Wonderful," I stared back down at my sushi, my chopsticks hesitating to pick another one up. "Fuji-san…"

"Yes?"

"Did Eiji-kun…say anything about me not being in school today?"

"He seemed…distant."

I sighed.

"I figured it was because of something between the two of you is why Eiji-kun practiced extremely hard. Harder than usual. He was trying to get his mind off of something, and that something…"

"…is me," I finished for him.

"So what will you do?"

"I'll go to school tomorrow. But until I figure everything out, and can even admit my own feelings, I think Eiji-kun and I need some time away from one another."

"Is that really the best choice?"

I blinked at Fuji's seemingly serious words. My eyes slowly gazed up to see the frowning Fuji. I rarely saw him frowning; only a few times at a tournament that they had a while back, but that was about it.

"The best choice…?" I repeated, "Is it not? Shouldn't I distance myself away from Eiji-kun until I figured everything out?"

"Distancing yourself from him will only make things worse." My eyes widened in shock as his words. I watched him pick up a sushi roll and plop it into his mouth.

"**Fuji-san? Boyer-san?**" My eyes snapped up towards the door, where Taka walked in with a shocked look in his eyes. It quickly vanished, however, and he smiled while walking over to us.

"**Hey**," Fuji greeted him.

Taka nodded towards him, then looked at me. "**Boyer-san, I thought you were sick. You didn't come to school today.**"

I mentally sweat dropped. "**Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn't feeling too great this morning, so I just stayed home from school. I'm feeling much better now, though.**" I somewhat lied.

"**Oh, I see.**"

Sorry, Taka.

Fuji smiled over at me, seeing right through my little white lie. I shot him a look, a look that told him to keep quiet. He chuckled a bit and I almost wanted to smack him.

I asked Taka if he would like to sit down with us, but he declined, telling us that he had to go help his father. When he left towards the back, I snatched the last piece of sushi on my plate and stuck it in my mouth. When I was finished, I stood up and thanked Fuji for the meal. Fuji stood up as well, and accompanied me out.

"Remember, do not mention anything about what I said today to anyone." I said.

"Your secret is safe with me." Fuji replied.

I smiled. "Thanks… Oh, and thanks for talking in English!" I laughed and spun around, making my way through the small crowd of people.

I raised my head, watching the white, puffy clouds in the sky float by. So, avoiding Eiji was not a good idea, apparently. Man, I really do suck at this kind of stuff. Then what do I do? Wait – what if Eiji avoids me first? Would Eiji really avoid me though? I sighed. Sometimes I wish I knew what Eiji was thinking. This was just getting irritating.

"Why does this have to be happening to me? !" I shouted, furiously scratching both sides of my head.

"**Boyer-san?**"

I blinked. My head slowly moved up, my eyes meeting a familiar face.

"Eiji-kun's sister? !"

* * *

**(-Before school started-)**

"And then he said tha-" Lucy stated as she was rambling to Keitaro.

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" Keitaro screamed out of annoyance.

"…THAT. He was going to take Mari-nee out to lunch and I was like 'you did not just go there! I don't think so.' And after that I beat him but with the help of a sink…" Lucy finished slightly ignoring Keitaro's outburst.

"Hey... Did you know that there is supposed to be a ghost in the janitor's closet?" he said changing the subject.

"REALLY?" Lucy exclaimed happily.

"Yep…But you have to be in there with the door closed and the lights off along with that factor that you have to wait until school is over."

"Ok, let's do it!" Lucy smirked with some drool dribbling from her mouth.

"_Hehehe~! Finally I can get ride of her!_" Keitaro laughed evilly in his head while walking towards the closet.

* * *

**(-After school-)**

"Wasn't there something I was supposed to do?" Keitaro asked himself as he was walking home alone. "Eh oh well…If I can't remember it, it wasn't important."

* * *

**(-Late at night around 12 in Keitaro's dreams-)**

_Keitaro was sitting in a field of flowers with Miki while eating sandwiches when suddenly a hand reaches out from Miki's mouth. The hand pulls the rest of its body out. As it would turn out the body was Lucy's and she wasn't exactly human. She had long horns protruding out of her head with bat wings connected to her hips, fangs and sharp pointy teeth. The whites of her eyes were black, her pupils were slits, and her eye color changed to bright blood red. The skies turn purple, the sun red, and the clouds black. The flowers morphed into demonic vines that snipped at Keitaro's body._

_"Haven't you forgotten something?" Lucy growled in a weird evil voice as drool began to run down her neck from her mouth._

_"I d-don't know what you are talking about!" he yelled getting up to run but he fell through a hole in the ground where it was pitch black._

_"Maybe this will give you a hint." Lucy's demon voice came from inside the darkness with him before the lights turned on, revealing a janitor's closet._

_"OH GOD!" he yelled before Lucy pulled out a scythe and swung it to chop off his head._

* * *

Keitaro shot straight up.

"Oh god! If I go there, she would kill me! Who would she not kill?" He asked himself aloud in a whisper. "…I know!" he snapped his fingers while looking for his cell phone.

He dialed the phone number.

"_Why in the world are you calling me at this time in the morning?_" Fuji's voice came out tired but somehow awake.

"Ya gotta help me man! I locked Lucy in the janitor's closet at school, and totally forgot to get her out!" Keitaro whispered into the phone.

"_Wait…Slow down…Why did you do this._"

"That's not important right now! She'll kill me if I go, and mom has a strict rule about not going out after eleven. Can you please go get her?" Keitaro said almost crying.

"_Okay…_" Fuji sighed from the other side of the line.

* * *

"**Who was that?**" Fuji's older sister asked in curiosity, poking her head into her younger brother's room.

"**A friend. I need to pick someone up. Can you call Ryuzaki-sensei and tell her to bring the school key and to wait for me?**"

"**Be careful.**" She stated as she watched her brother leave the house.

Fuji got his phone out and decided to call Lucy's cell.

He dialed the number, but it would appear the blasted thing was either off or dead.

* * *

Ryuzaki stood there waiting for Fuji.

"**Sorry to bother you about this, Sensei. But Lucy is locked in a janitor's closet.**" Fuji explained tiredly.

"…" was the coach's only reply.

She walked towards the gate and unlocked it along with all the other doors. She also turned off the security alarms. Eventually they reached the right closet and unlocked it only to reveal a sleeping Lucy.

Fuji then picked her up. The three of them went out of the building locking it up as they went.

"**You want a ride?**" Ryuzaki asked politely.

"**No, I will walk her to my house.**"

"**Why not walk her home?**"

"**I am afraid of what her family might do if I show up with her sleeping in my arms at one in the morning.**"

"**I see.**"

And so Ryuzaki left Fuji standing there with Lucy in his arms. He looked down at her and he had a slight realization. She was actually pretty cute, sleeping like that.

* * *

"**Sister, I am home.**" Fuji sighed opening the door somehow with Lucy in his arms.

"**Oh, it's that girl you were telling me about, correct?**" His sister smiled.

"Yeah. Can you change her?" he asked his sister while putting Lucy's small body on the couch before he turned to go and get something for the girl to eat just in case she woke up and was hungry.

"**Not a problem.**"

After a couple of minutes Fuji's sister walked into the kitchen and stated that the pink haired girl was dressed in proper clothes for sleeping and that she would wash her school uniform.

Fuji then walked back into the living room and sat down next to Lucy, who surprisingly woke up.

She seemed to still be asleep, but she looked at him, got up, and sat on his lap.

"When did I get out of the closet?" she asked seemingly slightly irritated.

"Thirty minutes ago."

"Hmph! That Keitaro is going to suffer the next time I see him."

"Philips-san…Why were you in the closet?" Fuji asked politely.

"Keitaro said that the closet was haunted and that you had to wait in the closet in the dark for the whole period of school." She huffed, annoyed.

"I see… Have you learned something from this, Saa?"

"Yes…Never trust useless lackeys!" She stated. "What time is it by the way?" she asked taking her cell phone out only to find out that it was in fact dead.

"Around one forty-five," He answered. "Can you please get off of me?"

"No. You are warm." Lucy stated cuddling into him more.

"Then do you mind going to my room so I can change back into my clothes?"

"Nope," Lucy retorted softly before Fuji picked her up again and walked to his room and plopped her on his bed.

She then turned towards the wall after crawling under the blankets and before seemingly to fall asleep, and Fuji started to change. After he was done, he got under blankets before realizing that Lucy was a bed hog. So he pushed her more towards the wall in order to get at least some room.

"Fuji-senpai…You could have asked for me to move." Lucy stated before turning around to face him.

"I thought you were asleep, Philips-san." He replied looking into her eyes. Wait a moment! One of them was green. "Lucy? You have two different eye colors?"

"Huh? Oh yeah…" she sighed, averting her eyes away from his face. "Must have lost my contact lens somehow…"

Fuji's hand somehow found its way up to Lucy cheek. And before Fuji knew what he was doing, he kissed the pink haired girl.

All she could seem to do when he pulled away from her face was to stare at him in shock.

"Saa…Sorry about that Phillips-san." He chuckled at her reaction.

Lucy's facial expression seemed to change because of the statement. She stared at him with a serious look on her face for a while before moving her face closer. "May…I ask what that was for?" she looked up at him while pouting.

"Because you are so cute," He replied kissing her once again, but this time she kissed back.

After a couple minutes of kissing each other, Lucy pulled away and went straight back to sleep.

"Hm…I should probably go to sleep as well." Fuji hummed aloud while cuddling the small pink haired girl.

* * *

**LP8**: Summer vacation has started. Half of this chapter was written while I was watching my awesome (expensive as hell) Prince of Tennis episodes! All together, it was 160 dollars for it, but dammit, it was worth it! (even if it took most of my money away, so I didn't buy much at the convention. I had a goal to come back with a crap load of anime this year, but then I remembered how much more expensive it is there than on eBay!)

Bloodpuppy wrote the Fuji and Lucy part. We are wrapping that relationship up. All I have to say as to WHY is because of...problems, I guess. I don't want to go into details because life should not be complained on Fanfiction. ...I'm making a fucking blog. I need something to complain on. BACK TO THE STORY! However, it won't affect Eiji or Lizzy. They are my problem(not in a bad way!), unlike Fuji and Lucy. Just think that the two have had mutual feelings (which you'd have to look pretty closely in during their time together) for a while now. Most of that is in fact, true!

I am sorry to all of those who probably wanted to see the relationship being taken slowly. I know that a lot of things have been changing in this story lately, and I know it gets annoying after a while, but I SWEAR this is the last huge change/change at all!

I'm not sure what you are all thinking or feeling, but do you get a feeling that this might be closing in to the ending soon? Hehe, I'll let your minds think about it now. 8)

All in all, this was a pretty fun (crappy in my mind) chapter. I do hope you all enjoyed, though!

I was originally going to have Ryoma be in the place of Fuji, but then I thought it was time for some FujixLucy... And was able to ask Bloodpuppy to work on that one part.

Anyway, I would like to thank: **PhoenixRage92, DarkContessa, ****rachil** and **ThePockyOfDoom**  
for reviewing last time! THANK you!

Please do leave a review, and I will try to get to the next chapter as soon as I can! But for now, I'm going to sleep. It's one in the morning, and I am tired. Let me wake up to some nice reviews! That would make my afternoon pleasent! (Hurrr... Look at me trying to get you all to review in such a lame way.)

**~LP8**


	30. Chapter 30: Ticket To Happiness Appears?

"**What a coincidence!**" Yumi, Eiji's older sister, said.

"**Y-Yeah…**"

"**Out shopping today?**" she asked this as she shifted bags around in her arms, some looked like groceries and some looked like clothes.

"**No… I was just out for a walk.**"

Yumi smiled at me, a strange looking mischievous smile that I didn't like one bit. "**Boyer-san… Would you mind accompanying me on a little shopping trip? I was just about to head over to the mall.**"

How much more stuff does she want to get? Her arms are filled with bags! Oh gosh… This is just like the Aunt Jenny Mall Incident back when I first arrived here.

However, before I could politely decline her invitation, two bags suddenly occupied my arms, and I was being dragged away by the back of my shirt.

"**Fantastic! The two of us need a little girl time anyway! Every time you come over you are always with Eiji. I swear he is so possessive with you.**" Yumi laughed. Her laughter continued when she glanced back at me and noticed that my cheeks turned a little pink. "**You're too cute! No wonder why Eiji likes you so much!**" Not only did my face become even redder at this, but my heart also had skipped a beat.

We arrived in Hell… Er… The mall soon enough. Yumi dragged me into various shops, most being clothing stores. It turns out she was an avid shopper, and I couldn't help but think of how well she and my aunt would get along. Shopping buddies, much? Yeah, I thought so.

Yumi made me wait outside the dressing room as she tried on some outfits. When she walked out, she always asked me a simple question that she only wished to acquire a simple answer in return.

"**Cute or not?**"

To which I would normally reply with 'Cute' seeing as how she always did look cute in whatever she tried on. Damn Japanese women… Always looking cute in anything and everything.

Nevertheless, no matter how cute the clothes were, Yumi did not buy a single outfit. As we walked over to an escalator she begun to complain about how she wished she were rich sometimes so that she could buy all the cute outfits she wanted. I couldn't help but chuckle at her pouting face. She reminded me of Keitaro when she did that.

"**Boyer-san**,"

"**Yes, Kikumaru-san?**"

"**You can just call me Yumi.**" She smiled.

"**O-Ok… Yumi-chan,**"

"**Anyway, I was wondering… Do you like my younger brother?**"

I stumbled slightly, completely caught off. Really, I did not expect her to ask me that. With a nervous expression and red as a tomato, I waved my hands in front of my face. This action being something I had picked up from Sakuno a while back. "**Eiji-kun and I are friends…**" I mumbled out.

"**I didn't ask what relationship base you two were on,**" Yumi replied, eyeing me. "**I asked if you like him or not.**"

I mentally slapped myself. Shoot. How the heck was I supposed to get out of this? Just randomly point to a clothing store that we haven't gone in yet?

…

…

…

"**Look, Yumi-chan! Doesn't that clothing store look adorable? I bet they have a lot of cute clothes that would just look wonderful on you!**"

Yumi glanced over to where I was pointing, eyes sparkling. I sighed inwardly, but cringed when Yumi muttered something I could not quite hear and turned back to me. **"Don't do you dare try to change the subject,**" she frowned at first, but slowly a grin appeared. "**Trying to change the subject…can only mean one thing. You **_**do **_**li-,**" I slapped my hand over her mouth, glancing to my right and left before back at her.

"**Can we please not talk about this in such a public place? If we can go to someplace more private, then I will talk.**" I told her.

Yumi nodded and gestured towards the exit.

"**Private place… A private place…**" Yumi mumbled, tapping her chin, glancing around. "**How about we go to the park? Not many people are there at this time of day, and they have this really comfy bench there!**" she grabbed my hand and began to drag me towards our new destination.

A comfortable bench? There is such a thing?

* * *

Yumi did not allow an brief moment of silence to pass as she asked her question from earlier. Do I like Eiji.

"**I hate to barge into the relationship like this, but I'm concerned for my younger brother. He hasn't been himself since he came home yesterday. Coming home in a complete and utter daze is not like him. He left for school the same way this morning.**" she sighed.

I lowered my head.

"**So please, if anything is happening between the two of you, I ask for you to try and work it out. I can't stand seeing him like this.**" Yumi gently rubbed my back, probably taking notice of my sad expression.

"**Eiji-kun...**" I stopped – should I really tell her? Was it even right for me? This was something between Eiji and I, after all.

Yumi softly smiled at me. "**You do not have to tell me. I'm trying to not make this any part of my business anyway. Or at least, not much more than it needs to be.**" she stood up and grabbed her bags. "**I must be off now, Boyer-san. Thank you for coming shopping with me. Please continue to take care of my brother. He's very precious to me, just like you are very precious to him.**" with one last smile, she skipped off.

And I mean skip.

I sat on the bench for a good hour, thinking things over. People casually passed by, all continuing on with their every day life, and ignoring the girl who sat alone on a bench, bangs covering her eyes as tears began to form, and the side of her head begun to pound from an incoming headache.

Yes, that girl was me.

My lips trembled. I threw my hands up and covered my mouth, hoping to suppress the sound of the sob. It didn't work, however, and I ended up pulling my hands away and taking a deep, shaky breath. "Eiji-kun..." I mumbled, only loud enough for me to hear. "Eiji-kun... I... I love you,"

* * *

"**I'm home~,**" Yumi sung out, her voice echoing throughout the dead seeming house. She lifted a brow, taking notice of the complete silence. She peeked her head in the kitchen, living area, before finally shrugged. She figured everyone had gone out for groceries or something. Yumi made her way up stairs and threw the bags on her bed. She turned to close the door to her room when a crack of her younger brothers door, Eiji's, caught her attention. Eiji rarely left his door open. Not unless he was late for something and was rushing to get out of the house. She walked over, taking a quick glimpse inside, whereupon she noticed a familiar boy lying on his bed, pillow covering his face.

"**I didn't know you were home.**" Yumi commented, swinging open the door.

"**Go away, Sis.**"

"**No,**" Yumi plopped herself on the edge of his bed. "**I used the rest of your toothpaste earlier.**"

"**WHAT?**" Eiji sat straight up, the pillow falling onto his lap.

"**Kidding,**" Yumi chuckled.

Eiji pouted.

"**I saw Boyer-san today.**" Yumi announced.

The expression on Eiji's face immediately changed.

"**She was upset about something, Eiji.**" Yumi frowned. "**I didn't pester her too much about it. You're like her best friend. Why aren't you comforting her?**" Yumi titled her head to the side, studying her brother's change of facial expressions. Eiji laid back down, his arms stretched out behind him. "**Could it be the same thing that has been bothering you?**" she asked a brief moment later.

Eiji's brows knitted together, and he closed his eyes.

Yumi heaved a heavy sigh. Eiji was obviously not in the mood to discuss anything that had to do with Elizabeth. Yumi's assumptions were correct. The sister stood up, patting down her pants pockets, then stuffed her hand into the left one. She pulled something out and threw them on Eiji's face. "**Take these and take Boyer-san. If I find out you took someone else, I'll not only kill you, but I'll use the rest of your toothpaste.**" with that, Yumi stormed out of the room, shutting it behind her. Younger brothers sure could be stubborn.

* * *

Eiji grumbled to himself about Yumi using the last of his toothpaste. Such an evil sister she is.

He picked up the smooth paper feeling things off his face and opened his eyes.

Tickets to the amusement park? Why did Yumi give him these? Where did she even get them? Why did she get them?Why was he asking himself these questions?

Eiji shrugged. It didn't really matter. He enjoyed amusement parks, so he'd have to thank Yumi later for giving these to him. He hadn't gone in a long time.

"_Take these and take Boyer-san,"_

He rolled over on his side, eyes gazing on the two tickets.

"**Liz-chan...**"

* * *

I let out a relaxed sigh, stretching as I am sprawled out on my bed. Once I had gotten home, I received calls from Miki, Keitaro, Shinji, but nothing from Lucy which I found strange.

Miki scolded me for not coming to school.

Keitaro freaked the heck out and asked if I were okay. And then asked me if I am involved with like the mafia and that's why I did not come to school and really, I just thought that was a strange excuse for not coming to school. After I assured him everything was fine, he begun to complain about how much more annoying Lucy was today than usual.

Shinji just asked if I were feeling okay, and told me about what I missed.

Shinji is my favorite person right now.

"Elizabeth! Dinner is ready!" my aunt kicked open the door to my room – literally. She's been doing this ever since her pregnancies hormones began kicking in. Pregnant women are crazy, I swear. And scary, very scary.

"Must you keep kicking open my door? Your going to break it." I sighed, my feet touching the floor as I sat up on my bed.

"Meh," she did a little hand flip and walked out.

I'm never having children.

I walked down, my head spinning a little from getting up too fast. As I touched the last step, I could hear my uncle opening the front door, and a familiar name echoing towards me.

"Kikumaru-san!"

"**I'm sorry for coming so late, nya~! Is Liz-chan here?**"

My eyes widened. Eiji... Eiji is here?

"**It's quite all right. And yes, Elizabeth is home. I'll fetch her for you.**" a pair of feet pounded against the ground, coming in my direction. My uncle looked a little surprised to see me standing on the last step, but quickly got over it and told me Eiji was here. I acted like I just founded out and headed towards the front door.

Eiji stood in front of it, his gaze at first on the floor, but he quickly looked up when I approached. I stopped mid-step, my eyes meeting with his. A brief moment of silence passed between the two of us, before Eiji began to fumble inside his coats pocket, mumbling incoherent things with what seemed to be a tint of pink on his cheeks. I'm sure my cheeks had a fair share of pink on them as well.

"**My sis gave these to me earlier... They're for this weekend. I was wondering if you wanted to go.**" Eiji held out his hand to me, a couple pieces of paper in it. I grabbed one and glanced over it.

Tickets to the amusement park?

"**Oh... Uhm...**" I blinked, "**Sure... This weekend?**"

Eiji nodded. "**Sunday,**"

"**Ok...**" I smiled at him.

Eiji blinked at me, but he eventually starting grinning.

**"See you Sunday, nya!**"

I nodded and waved as Eiji turned to leave. However, he paused shortly, and slightly turned around. Just enough for me to see his mouth slightly open. Albeit, he shut it quickly and gave me one last quick grin before shutting the door behind him.

It was all quiet, as I stood there, staring at the door to my home.

"MY BABY NIECE HAS A DATE!"

Until my aunt started screaming, that is.

Oh boy...

I should probably ask her what you do a amusement parks, now that I think about it.

AND THIS IS NOT A DATE, DAMMIT!

* * *

**LP8: **Short chapter, I know. I had trouble with it too. Re-wrote the damn thing three times. It's also crappy in my book. Sorry for the wait. This should have been up a lot sooner, but I've been so busy.

I want to try updating again soon. I'm currently at my mothers, and once I arrive back home in Cali, I'm going to be ultra busy with moving my stuff over to my step-sis' and getting everything settled. And then sometime in August school starts. So yeah.

SHIT IS GONNA HAPPEN AT THE AMUSEMENT PARK WOOOOOOOOOO

I'm definitely aiming for less dialogue in that one.

**Reviews:**

**i-summon-my-army-of-muffins**

**imnobeautyqueen**

**PhoenixRage92**

**xbamsod**

**and**

**Bearded Lady.**

THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING! Much appreciated!

Well, it's 11. Time for some sleeeeeeeep! 'Cause I've been pulling a lot of late nights lately.

Or watch more Soul Eater...

Yeah...

Soul Eater.

REVIEW PLEASE!

~LP8


	31. Chapter 31: Temper, Temper

"_Amusement park?_"

"Yeah," I responded. "He asked if I wanted to go, and I told him yes. We're going today. He'll be here in about an hour to pick me up."

"_Sounds like a date!_"

"Lucy, shush."

"_Well it does..._"

I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, what was the news you wanted to tell me?"

"_Huh? Oh...! Uh... I'll just tell you at school tomorrow. I... Er... Gotta get ready. Goin' out to lunch with the family and all... Talk to you later!_" she hung up.

"Well..." I mumbled, blinking at the phone. "That was rather quick..."

And just a bit suspicious.

I shrugged it off, however, and hung the phone back on the receiver. My uncle curiously watched me as I shuffled around the kitchen. My aunt had gone to do some shopping for dinner tonight, and my uncle had the day off. I grabbed an apple and bit into it, figuring it would be best to eat something before I left. Aunt Jenny explained what you do at amusement parks, and it sounded rather fun. I just hope I didn't get sick and end up puking all over Eiji.

"I'm going upstairs to get dressed." I told my uncle who grunted in reply.

I walked into my room where I began to strip myself of my pajamas. I grabbed the nearby short green sleeved shirt and the pair of black jeans that I had lay out on my bed and clothed myself. "Eiji should be here soon..." I mumbled to myself as I brushed the knots and tangles out of my hair. It was about time for a trim, I thought to myself, pinching the ends of my auburn colored hair.

I doubled checked my pockets for my wallet. When I noticed that it instead laid on my nightstand, I walked over, picking it up and stuffing it into my front pants pocket. I never trusted it being in my back ones. I was always afraid someone might come and steal it if I kept it in my back pocket. Or it would fall out. So I always placed it in my front pocket, occasionally brushing my hand over it to make sure it is still there.

As I started to turn, something shiny caught my eye. I turned back to my nightstand, a familiar 'lucky charm' gracing itself with its sudden presence. It was the cat keychain that Eiji had given me months ago, when I ended up in the nurse's office from fainting. I found myself reaching for it, my fingers lightly brushing over the painted eyes and whiskers. I grasped it, my grip tightening for a brief moment, and then I stuffed it in my other pocket.

Eiji would be here very soon, so I headed down stairs and towards the door. I slipped on my shoes and shouted to my uncle that I would be waiting for Eiji outside. I closed the door behind myself and leaned up against it, running a hand through my hair and sighing. I took one of my hair ties off my wrist and tied my hair into a low ponytail, letting it hang off the side of my shoulder.

…

…

I undid it and retied it into a high pony tail.

…

…

I once again undid it and tied it back into a low pony tail, this time letting it hang behind my neck.

…

…

I undid it and pounded my fist into my forehead. I was so nervous and being ridiculous. Why would Eiji care about how I style my hair? This thought caused me to pound my fist into my head some more.

"Liz-chan?"

I jumped; startled and hugged my arms as I side glanced at the person standing before me. When I saw his face, I calmed almost immediately.

"**Eiji-kun... It's just you.**" I said with a sigh of relief. Eiji tilted his head to the side, perplexed by what I had said. "**Uh, don't worry about it. Anyway, shall we go?**" I gestured. Eiji nodded, and we took off down the sidewalk, side by side. So of course my heart started pounding against my chest.

There was an awkward silence between the two of us as we walked along the sidewalk. I clasped my hands behind my back and stared at my feet.

"**So...**" I started, hoping that the awkward atmosphere that followed with the silence would vanish. "**The weather today is rather nice for going to the amusement park!**"

Maybe I said that a little...too bubbly.

Needless to say, Eiji chuckled and I had flushed a dark red.

"**Oh...!**" Realization hit his face. "**Have you ever been to an amusement park?**"

I shook my head. "**Somewhat, they were acknowledged somewhere in the back of my head, because I'm pretty sure I've seen them on television shows before. My aunt explained what you do there, though. **"

"**Are you ok with it?**"

"**Yeah! It sounds fun! Thanks for inviting me!**" I smiled brightly up at him and for a minute, I could have sworn I saw his cheeks go pink.

I shrugged it off after a couple of minutes, figuring that I was just seeing things. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I wished that what I had seen was real.

* * *

The amusement park was within our vision and soon enough, the wristbands were slapped on and we headed off inside the park.

"**What do you want to do first?**" Eiji asked as we examined the map to the park.

"**That sounds like a fast one! Let's do that one first!**" I exclaimed, pointing to a particular ride. Excitement bubbled upside inside me since we had closed in on the park. I could see all the rides from the outside, and hearing everyone scream with excitement of their own just got me majorly pumped.

Eiji nodded just as enthusiastically and the two of us took off towards the ride. We waited in line a bit, me slightly bouncing up and down. When it finally came to our turn, I had practically jumped into the seat. Eiji followed right behind me. We were soon strapped in and started to move, albeit a bit slowly. But as we came out of the dark tunnel and slowly rose to the top, my heart began to pound against my chest rather harshly. Of course I was excited, but I was also somewhat scared. Now don't get me wrong. I am definitely not afraid of heights, but this is my first time on a roller coaster.

Just as we stopped for a moment at the top, I felt something cover my hand that quivered a bit as I had gripped the bar that helped keep us in place. I glanced down, a blush rising to my cheeks when I noticed that Eiji's hand rested on top of my mind. I felt myself relax almost instantaneously. Next thing I knew, we were racing down the track. Screams emitted from behind me as well as in front of me and I couldn't help but scream myself. Eiji was right next to me, eyes closed, and laughing. I also found myself laughing with him.

The first time we went upside down I had shrieked. I honestly wasn't expecting that.

As we exited off the ride, we hurried off to another one, that looked just as fun as the first one. I didn't fail to notice how Eiji had laced our fingers together the moment we got off. I blushed a little and felt so good in side.

Almost like he felt the same way.

* * *

After our fifth ride, we stopped to get something to drink and eat. I was currently sipping on my soda, while Eiji was walking back with his food.

"**Amusement parks are so amazing**." I said, smiling as I looked around.

"**I'm glad you're enjoying it!**" Eiji smiled back at me as he took a bite out of his hotdog.

"**Thanks for asking me! So, what made you want to come to the amusement park all of a sudden?**" As I asked this, Eiji had almost choked on his food. I cringed but he quickly recovered after a few fist pounds on his chest. He looked at me, our eyes locking, but he broke it by looking back down.

He reached a hand up and placed it on the back of his neck, rubbing it. "**Just a sudden urge.**" He laughed.

I raised a curious brow at that, but shrugged it off as Eiji finished eating and I finished my drink. We stood up, throwing away our trash and went to the next ride.

* * *

We had gone on every ride, practically. We went on the Ferris wheel and some other slow rides after all the fast ones. Our last stop? The haunted house ride. Actually, it wasn't really a ride. You walked through it.

My stomach began to churn. Oh, it would have been so much better if it were a ride.

Eiji asked if I really wanted to go, which I replied with a nod. We entered after having our wrists scanned. We walked side by side throughout the entire time. Eiji had practically jumped into my arms once, and then a couple of times he cowered behind _me_. There was definitely something wrong with this scene. If I am correct, and from what I have seen on television, it was usually the girl who did that kind of stuff and the guy would then comfort her. So, why is this scene entirely different?

Maybe I'm just not lucky enough.

We exited the haunted house, both of us vowing to never go in there again. We went to a couple more rides before realizing how late in the afternoon it was getting. We decided to call it a day after one more ride, so we began to head over there.

"**I'm actually kind of surprised Lucy-chan and the others aren't spying on us or something. **" I said aloud.

Eiji tilted his head towards me. "**Eh?**"

I giggled. "**Nothing,**"

Eiji stared inquisitively at me for another moment before shrugging his shoulders.

I turned to look up at the sky while we walked. The sky was pretty clear; there were only a few clouds at the moment. I smiled to myself as I lowered my head. When I went to look up at Eiji, I blinked. He was no longer there.

I stopped immediately. Hesitating at first, I began to scan the crowds in order to find him but had no luck at all. My smile was turned upside down as I stood here, in the middle of the amusement park, alone.

I wasn't afraid of crowds or anything, but it did feel a little awkward to just be standing here while people walked by. I felt something abruptly pull at my heart and I lifted my hands up to my chest as I continued my crowd scanning. How hard could it be to find Eiji? Apparently a lot.

I ended up searching for almost over twenty minutes. I started to get worried by then and decided to take a short break on a nearby bench.

Children of all ages passed by me with happy smiles shining brightly on their faces, some were with adults and some were just with their friends. Several couples also passed by me, which made me feel even more awkward.

I glanced down at my lap. "_Eiji… Please… Let me find him soon._" I silently hoped as a heavy sigh escaped my lips.

"**Are you okay, miss?**"

My head snapped up at the sudden voice. Before me stood a young boy, who could be no more than seven. He held a balloon in one hand while he held an ice cream in another.

"**Y-Yes, I am. I just got separated from a friend, that's all.**" I replied.

He licked his ice cream. "**Do you want to hang out with me then? I promise I'm not hitting on you. I got separated from my parents.**" He said. "**You can even have my balloon!**" he handed the yellow balloon to me. I stared at the boy oddly, but took the balloon nevertheless.

"**I'll help you find your parents, ok? Little boys shouldn't be wandering alone.**" I told him.

He took my free hand and grasped it with his own. "**Pretty ladies like yourself shouldn't be wandering alone either.**"

To take that as a compliment or not?

I didn't respond. Instead, we continued walking around.

"**He sure looks popular.**" The kid suddenly spoke while looking off to the side.

I followed his gaze and almost gasped. Not too far off stood Eiji with a few girls hanging around him. Occasionally, I would see Eiji look over them and scan the place before going back to smiling and rubbing the back of his neck.

"**Eiji-kun…!**" I practically shouted.

"**I thought you said you got separated from a friend, not a boyfriend.**" The kid spoke.

"**He…He's not my boyfriend.**" I replied with a small tint of pink staining my cheeks.

"**But you want him to be.**"

"I hate kids…"

"**Huh? What'd you say, lady?**"

"**Nothing, absolutely nothing,**"

The kid eyed me with a questioning look before shrugging it off and pulled at my hand. "**Let's go get him, lady.**" I nodded slowly and allowed the kid to drag me wherever he pleased which was towards Eiji.

When we were near him, the kid tugged on Eiji's shirt, which made him look down. "**Hey there, Mister. I've brought you your friend here.**" He gestured to me. Eiji looked up and his eyes had practically bulged out of his sockets. The next thing I knew, I was tackled into a hug with Eiji shouted how happy he was to of found me safe and sound. I sighed and told Eiji to detach himself from me. He did so and turned back to the kid, bending down and patting him on the head and thanking him for bringing me to him. "**Sure thing, Mister.** **You shouldn't leave such a pretty lady all alone you know. Oh, and I swear I didn't hit on her.**" Eiji and I simultaneously sweat dropped.

"**Ehh… I didn't know he was married.**" One of the girls whispered.

"**He looks so young though!**"

"**But they have a kid!**"

"**Let's leave…**" and so the girls proceeded to leave, much to my relief.

"**Mister, what were you doing with those girls when you already have such a pretty lady?**" Both of faces flushed at the little boys words. Eiji began to splutter indignantly while I could only look away in embarrassment.

"**Ok kid, I think it's about time we get you back to your parents.**" I told him as I rounded around him and gently placed my hands on his shoulders where I begun to push him forward. He began to protest, but I only ignored him and turned to Eiji. "**He lost his parents, so I told him I would help him**." I simply explained. Eiji nodded in understanding and followed me through a small crowd of people.

"**So where did you last see them?**" I asked, glancing down.

"**I dunno.**" The kid shrugged.

My face went blank.

"**Maybe we should ask a worker. That way they can send out word to his parents.**" Eiji suggested while he scanned around.

"**You're just a bit smarter than Lady here.**"

I twitched. This kid had no manners, seriously.

"**Really, lady. Why didn't you think of that in the first place? Don't pin the blame on me, you're the adult here. You're supposed to think of such things.**"

I glowered at him. He flinched and hid behind Eiji.

"**Wow, lady. No need to get so angry…**"

Eiji looked back and forth between the kid and me, obviously a bit confused. Or worried. Perhaps both. I couldn't really tell.

We walked off to find a worker, which we happened to find rather quickly. They agreed to help and sent out a message through the park. Eiji, the kid and I waited on a nearby bench for the parents, and hopefully they would come sooner than later.

"**So are you two planning on getting married?**"

"**No,**" I hurriedly replied. "**We're not even dating.**"

"**But you like him, right lady?** **You didn't seem all too happy when you saw him with those other girls.**"He turned to Eiji without hesitation. "**I think she likes you.**"

I covered the kid's mouth, eye twitching furiously.

He tried to speak, but it just came out as unidentified muffles. Eventually, he licked my hand causing me to retract it in disgust and wipe it on my pants.

"**That just further proves you like him.**"

I threw my hand back over his mouth quickly and once again glared daggers at him. He smirked in victory though and licked my hand once more. Gross!

After I wiped my hand of the gross saliva, I looked over at Eiji who was looking away but what I found strange was that I saw the side of his mouth curve up a bit.

My heart skipped a beat. Eiji was…smiling?

"**Satoshi!**"

Satoshi, apparently the name of the kid we were looking after, turned around smiling brightly. "**Mom! Dad!**" he pulled his hand out of my grasp and ran towards the middle-aged looking couple. His parents scooped them up in their arms when he reached them.

"**Oh Satoshi! We were so worried!**" Satoshi's mother exclaimed.

"**Lady and big brother here helped me out!**" Honestly, why was I called "Lady" but Eiji was called "big brother"?

"**Thank you so much for helping our son. If anything would have had happened to him, I'm not sure what we would do…**" Satoshi's father bowed deeply. Deeply enough for himself and his wife, who held Satoshi in her arms still. She nodded gratefully to the both of us. Eiji and I – well we felt a bit uncomfortable with such a thanks.

"**It's no problem. Really. We're just glad you found each other.**" I told them, also nudging at the husband to stop bowing. He did. Eventually.

"**We are so very grateful… If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask us.**" Satoshi's father said.

Eiji and I exchanged looks. We both smiled. "**All right, thank you**." I said.

Satoshi wiggled out of his mother's arms and walked over to me, asking me to bend down for a moment. I was reluctant to do it, but after a moment of giving him a look that if he tried to pull anything funny, I wasn't afraid to start pulling on his cheeks in front of his parents, that I soon bent down enough to where he could whisper in my ear, "**If you don't confess to him fast, he's sure to be snagged away!**"

My face turned red. I stood up straight, ready to grab him, but Satoshi was quick and ran back into his mother's arms. He laughed at me while they walked away and even shouted, "**Good luck, Lady!**"

Eiji chuckled. "**He's a pretty energetic, amusing kid!**"

"**He sure is…**" I muttered back.

It was silent between the two of us as we allowed ourselves to take in what exactly just happened. Of course, that silence had to be interrupted in the most embarrassing way ever.

My stomach growled.

LOUDLY.

I turned, wrapping my arms around my stomach and told it to shush. Yes, I was speaking to my stomach. Not like you haven't done it before, right?

Eiji laughed. "**Ready to get some food?**"

I nodded. Eiji laughed again and grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together. We exited the park, deciding to go to a burger joint in town. We arrived there eventually, where surprisingly we also saw Momo and Ryoma. We sat with them. I almost regretted it because the two were very, erm, crude. Nevertheless, I managed to finish my food. Eiji had no problem whatsoever.

Men.

Afterwards, Eiji and I departed and walked around town, glancing through windows of stores and just plain hanging out for the rest of the day. When I was tired, I decided to head home. Eiji agreed that it was time to head back and gave me a piggyback ride. We probably looked like weirdoes, laughing and giggling the whole way, but hey, it was fun.

Eiji dropped me off in front of my "door.

"**Thanks Eiji! I had a lot of fun today!**" I smiled brightly up at him.

"**Me too, nya!**" Eiji wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. I returned the gesture by wrapping my arms around his waist as well. We stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. Just as we began to pull away, Eiji surprised me by saying, "**Sorry…**"

I smiled again. "**Me too…**" And once again, we were back into our hugging position. Albeit this one was shorter than the last, but to me it also felt like an eternity.

"**See you later?**"

"**Yup!**"

Eiji ruffled my hair like a kid and skipped off – not really- down my steps. I turned around, reaching for the knob, but halted when I heard Eiji halt in his steps.

"**Elizabeth…**" Of course, my name came out sounding as "Erizabeth" but it was close enough. "**Will…you go out with me? !**"

My eyes widened.

What?

I slowly turned around. Eiji was standing on the sidewalk now, fingers curled up, making two tight fists as he looked up at me. We stared at one another. Words caught in my throat. All I could make was weird sounds. Soon enough, Eiji's fingers uncurled and he sadly smiled at me.

"**I thought so…**" He laughed – I could tell it was at himself- and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.  
"**The truth is… I like you, Liz-chan. I knew it, for a long time I did, but I didn't want to do anything about it. Because… Because I was afraid of you not feeling the same.**" He sighed, but continued to smile that sad smile. "**Turns out I was right, huh?**" Wait – what? "**Sorry… Just forget what I said, ok? Bye**." With that, he began to jog off down the street.

WAIT A MOMENT!

I tripped heading down the steps, but managed to make it in one piece to the side walk. Of course, Eiji was still pretty far away and I wasn't that great of a runner, so all I could really do was… Well…

"**KIKUMARU EIJI!**" That got him to stop and turn around. He was as shocked as I was! WHAT THE HELL WAS I DOING? Oh yeah…

I smiled brightly. "**I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND!**"

_That's _what I was doing.

And let me tell you now, people were around at this point, and Eiji's face turned as red as his hair.

I don't think I laughed so much in my life before that.

* * *

**LP8: **What in the world is this? ! An UPDATE? BLASPHEMY!

Haha… Uh… Hi! 8D

It's been a while. Sorry!

It's just been hectic. But I did it! I was able to update it! It was supposed to be updated ON Christmas as a present for you all, but it turns out Christmas day/eve is actually a busy couple of days for me. Who knew?

So how have you all been?

Is anyone even still reading this story? xD

IT'S NOT OVER. Yet. Pretty damn close though.

And would like to thank: **PhoenixRage92, gimmefood, i-summon-my-army-of-muffins, SoulSilverShipping, DarkContessa and TigerCat **for reviewing last chapter. THANK YOU!

To whoever is still reading this, review please!

Until next time,

**~LP8**


	32. Chapter 32: Lonely

"You and Fuji-senpai are _what_? !" Miki, Keitaro, Shinji and I all said at once. We each stared at Lucy in utter disbelief.

"Didn't you say you despised Fuji-senpai?" Miki raised a brow.

Lucy cheeks were tinted with a light pink color. "Y-Yeah… But I was just lying to myself… I think… I… I don't know…"

"I honestly didn't see it coming." Keitaro muttered under his breath.

Shinji smiled and raised his hand. "I did…"

"I had a feeling, but I didn't think that feeling would come true." Miki said.

"I had a feeling too…" I also said.

"So I am the only one who absolutely did not see this one coming?" Keitaro bluntly asked.

All of us exchanged looks. "Well…yeah." We nodded.

I chuckled at my good friend. We were all sitting under our favorite tree at school, eating our lunch made by Shinji himself. Keitaro was at first reluctant to eat it, afraid that Shinji was trying to poison all of us. Once Lucy shoved some food in his mouth, Keitaro gave in and silently began to eat.

"Well," I began. "I believe I also have some, uh, news…"

"This should be good." Miki commented.

I looked to the ground, rubbing the back of my neck. "Yeah… Uhm… Eiji-kun and I… We're, uh, d-dating now." I couldn't help but smile as I said this.

"Oh we knew that was gonna happen."

"Totally."

"About damn time, woman."

"NOO! MY BABY!"

I looked up. "Are you all serious?"

"Yup,"

I face-palmed.

"So when did this happen?" Miki asked curiously.

"Sunday… After the amusement park…" I replied. I grabbed my fried egg

"I _knew _something good was going to happen to you there!" Lucy exclaimed, her smile widening.

I opened my mouth to reply to Lucy, but that was interrupted by a loud thundering sound and the darkening of the area. Keitaro and I both looked up to the sky. Dark clouds hovered over us; it covered the whole sky. Thunder roared once more and the next thing we knew, it started to sprinkle.

"Aw man!" Keitaro frowned.

We all stood up and packed our lunch. We hurried inside with all the other students who had once been enjoying their lunch out in the sun. By the time we got inside, it was pouring rain out there instead of just a light sprinkle. I frowned.

"This sucks." I muttered.

"Why? I love the rain!" Lucy grinned.

"It's not like I hate the rain, but I was looking forward to walking home in the warm sun." I told her.

"That's because Kikumaru-san said he was going to take you home, isn't it?" Miki smirked.

"N-no! Well…maybe…" I looked away, embarrassed.

"Maybe the rain will clear up by the time we go home." Shinji said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I nodded and smiled.

We decided to finish our lunch in Miki and I's next classroom. On our way there we ran into Jun, who said my aunt and uncle called, asking her to give me a ride home. Apparently it was going to rain for the rest of the day. That just bummed me out even more. Nevertheless, I accepted Jun's offer to give me a ride home. I also couldn't really get out of it. Aunt Jenny wanted me to pick up some groceries, and Jun had a car, so it'd be easier that way. I also didn't want to be bringing home wet groceries.

Jun departed and my friends and I continued to our way to the classroom. There we finished our delicious lunch. We thanked Shinji and he left. Moments later the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over and that class was going to start soon. Lucy and Keitaro left quickly, their class being downstairs. Miki pushed her desk back to her original spot as other students piled in and class started.

* * *

Even when school was over it was still raining outside. The wind had picked up quite a bit too. I waited near my shoe locker while Miki and Lucy finished putting on their outdoor shoes. Shinji and Keitaro already left.

"**Liz-chan!**"

I smiled. Eiji, Momo, Fuji and Ryoma made their way towards the three of us.

"**Eiji-kun!**" I greeted him.

"**Heading home?**" He asked, seeming a little uncertain about our plans himself.

I nodded. "**Yeah, but the thing is that Jun offered me a ride and I have to pick up groceries…**"

Eiji patted my head. "**That's okay, nya! Fuji's sister is going to be giving us a ride anyway!**"

"**All right, be safe!**"

Eiji smiled gently at me. "**You too. See you tomorrow!**" He turned around, waving as he and the others left. I waved back until they were no longer seeable.

"Mi-chan~," Lucy latched herself to Miki. "Can you give me a ride home~? I don't want to walk home soaking wet."

Miki sighed. "I don't want to be responsible for you possibly catching a cold, so yes, I will give you a ride home." She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket where she then flipped it open. "The car is here. Let us go." She said. The three of us walked to the exit and then bolted across the school yard with our bags over our heads for protection of the rain. Miki and Lucy jumped into a car nearby, saying their goodbyes to me first, and then I jumped into Jun's which was right behind theirs.

Jun wasn't in there, so I suspected she got held up in the nurse's office either looking at papers or a patient. I waited inside the cold vehicle, silently wishing that Jun would hurry up. The keys were not in the ignition, so I couldn't start it up which meant no heater. Not like I knew how to start a car anyway. I'm sure it wasn't too hard. You just, uh, turned the keys right? Well… even if the keys were in the ignition I would leave them alone. I would be too afraid of the car accidentally starting to move.

I shivered. That would be a terrible accident.

Jun exited the school building, rushing over to the car as fast as she could with her high heels. She opened the car down and slid in. She placed her purse and some folders in the backseat before turning back and buckling up. Jun softly smiled at me, which I returned with one of my own as I buckled the seat belt. The engine roared to life and Jun turned on the windshield wipers. The first few minutes of driving were silent, that is, before I spoke up.

"Uhm, Jun…"

"Hmmm?" she hummed, lifting a brow in curiosity.

I directed my gaze to my hands that were folded neatly together on my lap, heat rose to my cheeks. "What was it like when you first found out you liked a friend of yours that isn't the normal friendship like…?"

"Well," she grinned. "I became really embarrassed, and my cheeks were bright red. Then a whole bunch of thoughts clouded my mind. Such as: does he like me back? Should I tell him, etc, etc?" I nodded my head to every single word.

"And…what happened?" I questioned after a brief moment of silence.

"Ah, wel-." Before Jun could finish, she gasped.

She roughly turned the wheel, causing the right side of my body to slam into the car door. The car swerved out of control. Jun tried her best to stop it from doing so. She shouted my name after a minute or so. Bright lights came into view, as did some loud honking noises. Both disappeared as Jun threw herself on top of me. I clung to whatever I could as I felt the car lift into the air. Tires screeched, as did many people on the other side of the street. Windows shattered next to me…little shards of glass flying all around me.

Finally, the car stopped moving, now presumably upside down. My head hurt from hitting it on the roof of the car earlier. I groaned and tried to sit up, and then I remembered Jun.

A gasp escaped my lips. "Jun? Are you alright? Jun!" I shook her roughly, but Jun never responded. I tried my best to back up and push her off slightly with the tiny space I had in this upside down car of hers. Shards of the glass from a couple of the windows punctured my skin, making me momentarily flinch in pain. But what I was truly worried about was Jun, not me.

When I was able to succeed the removal of Jun on top of me, I continued to shake her, calling her name. She still didn't respond. Large amounts of blood trickled down the side of her head, and a little coming from her mouth. Right now, Jun looked absolutely lifeless…

Tears swelled up in my eyes. My through was clogged with upcoming sobs that I tried my best to keep back. It couldn't be true. Jun couldn't be…dead. No, she was just unconscious, right? _Right_?

"J-Jun…" I choked out, lips trembling. Tears began to roll down my cheek for I could no hold them back. "No…please! Please Jun! Wake up, wake up!" I continued to shake her, the tears pouring out of my eyes now. I ignored the sound of police cars and ambulances nearby and only continued to cry out Jun's name. "JUN! DON'T LEAVE ME, JUN!" I uncomfortably laid my head on Jun's stomach, sobbing as I clenched her blue shirt that was stained with a little bit of her blood. My hands shook uncontrollably, my grip tightening until my knuckles turned white.

I didn't bother looking over at the police men who pried open my dented door. I was suddenly being pulled out, but all I wanted was to stay with Jun. "No! Stop it!" I struggled against them whilst listening to them as they told me to stop struggling in Japanese. I was persistent though, persistent to stay with Jun.

"JUN!"

* * *

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

The familiar noise echoed throughout the room. I was well aware of where I am. I was in a hospital, lying in a bed, head, arms and my left leg bandaged up. I had been awake for quite some time now. My aunt and uncle had rushed over, my aunt in tears, and my uncle with what seemed like an unmovable frown plastered on his face. I had awoken to the sound of my aunt sobbing right next to me. When I opened my eyes, my aunt gasped and showered me in kisses. My uncle only held my hand, occasionally stroking it with his thumb.

That had all happened three hours ago. My aunt was completely reluctant to leave. She begged my uncle to allow her to stay by my side, but my uncle won the battle, and the two left. They would be back later, however, with clothes and some stuff to keep me entertained while I would be stuck in the hospital for almost a week. I wasn't horribly hurt, but they wanted to keep me in to make sure that the trauma to my head that I received during the crash wouldn't affect me in any sort of way.

It was almost evening. I gazed out the window. The rain had stopped, the setting sun coming out from behind the dark clouds. I thought it would be more fitting if the rain had stayed, for Naomi Jun, was no longer in this life.

She was pronounced dead when she arrived at the hospital in a separate ambulance from me.

I wasn't sure what to feel anymore. If I could even feel still. Honestly, it felt like all life had left me as well. There one moment and gone the next. Life sure is cruel.

That is a lesson I will never forget.

* * *

It was a day later… Mid-afternoon. I stared outside the window again. It was no longer raining. Clouds hovered in the sky, but the sun overtook most of it.

"Elizabeth?"

I didn't bother to look at my aunt when she entered. She placed something down on the table next to my bed. I was sure it was food. It made clanking noises like dishes normally would. But I wasn't too hungry.

"Elizabeth… You need to eat. Ok, sweety?" She stroked my hair in the back.

"I will…" I mumbled in reply.

"Do you promise?"

I nodded.

Although hardly satisfied, Aunt Jenny left the room anyhow. They were giving me time alone. Time to think. The thing is… I don't want to be alone. I'd actually rather have someone in here with me, by my side. But I couldn't dare ask them. I was too afraid.

Perhaps I haven't come out of my shell afterall.

What a waste.

"**Liz-chan!**"

That voice, however, made me turn my head.

My lips moved on their own. "**Eiji-kun…**"

Eiji panted heavily. Sweat beaded down his forehead to his neck. He was still wearing his tennis uniform.

"**E-Eiji-kun!**" I exclaimed, rather surprised. "**Wh-what are you doing here? School is still in session!**"

Eiji made a disgruntled expression. I threw my blankets off my lap, but I didn't get too far. Eiji had rushed over to me and pulled me into his arms, hugging me tightly. After a moment he pulled away from me, his blue eyes scanning over my face and then my body.

"**Are you okay? Any major damage? !**" Then he noticed the bandages. "**Whaaa!**"

Gently, I pushed him back. "**I'm alright, Eiji-kun. No major damage… Just some cuts.**" I assured him.

Eiji pulled me back into his arms. "**Liz-chan…**" he buried his face into the top of my head.

He was shaking.

My eyes lowered. "**I'm sorry for worrying you…**"

He said nothing; only tightened his arms around me.

"**I'm really sorry Eiji-kun… but… could you please let go of me? You're hurting me.**"

"**EH?**" He jumped back and began to apologize.

I shrugged it off; telling him it was all right. He eventually calmed down. That didn't last long, though. Eiji immediately went into "Care for Elizabeth" mode. He threw my blanket back over me, fluffed my pillows and then tried to feed me when he noticed the food.

"**E-Eiji-kun!** **What are you trying to do here?**" I asked.

Eiji stopped all he was doing and smiled brightly at me. "**I'm taking care of my girlfriend, nya!**"

My cheeks reddened just a bit.

"**Say "aaaaah"!**"

I snapped back into reality just as the spoon neared my mouth.

"**I am not going to say "aaaaah"!**"

"**Aw~! No fun, Liz-chan…**"

"**Eiji-kun…**"

"**AH!**" Eiji jumped up. "**You must be thirsty, right? I'll go get you something to drink! There is a convenience store nearby so I'll…**" Eiji threw on his coat, preparing to leave.

My heart skipped a beat. "**No… E-Eiji-kun wait!**" I reached out and grabbed the back of his jacket. My throat clogged up. My eyes began to become all misty. Eiji looked at me, full of concern. "**Eiji…Eiji-kun… Please…**" It was hard to get the words out, but I couldn't take it anymore."**Please don't leave me.**" I begged him.

Eiji faced me now. He nodded and sat down next to me on my bed. I sniffed. He began to stroke my hair, and then my cheek.

"**T-Thank you… Thank you so much.**"

He leaned in, his lips gently touching my left cheek and then my right. After that, it was my lips.

It had been a long time since I felt such warmth.

* * *

**Both: **Thanks to: **girl-of-anime, i-summon-my-army-of-muffins, mewmewlover23, Tmbookworm, easily1994addicted, TigerCat and gimmefood for reviewing last chapter!**

**LP8: **We won't leave you hanging too long! Promise!

**~LP8 and Bloodpuppy**


	33. Chapter 33: Life is Full of Surprises

Two weeks later, the sun was shining brightly in the sky. Little clouds were visible, making this day a perfect day for a going out with friends. And that's exactly what was happening. However, I wanted to make a little stop somewhere.

Now I stood in front of a gravestone. It was engraved with Japanese characters. I still wasn't the best at writing or reading them, but I could read more of them than I thought I could.

"You were buried two days after I was discharged from the hospital. I almost didn't go… I didn't think I would be able to bare it. I did though… But left right away afterwards… It took all my courage to come back here." I gazed softly at the new headstone that sat at the end of a fresh grave. "I want to say goodbye… I wanted to say it before, but… I was scared. I'm sorry, Jun. I'm sorry for not coming sooner." I carefully sat down on my legs and placed the flowers before the headstone. I sucked in a sharp breath. "Aunt Jenny grew these." I shakily said. "She…she said these were your favorites." I lifted my hand, gently brushing my fingers on the words.

I glanced behind me; my side ponytail fell back over my shoulder. Several people stood underneath a nearby tree, the shade feeling rather nice on their skin. I smiled when my eyes traveled over to Eiji. He was smiling about something with Momo and Taka. What, I wasn't sure, but it was refreshing to see his bubbly smile.

I looked back at the headstone. "I didn't get the chance to tell you, but Eiji-kun and I are dating!" I chuckled softly. "I kind of wish you could have seen the two of us together. Apparently, we make a really cute couple. I'm not so sure, but slowly I'm being convinced. And… I really like being with Eiji-kun. I'm… I'm very happy." My smile faded. A frown replaced it. "Jun… Is it right for me to be so happy?" I stared at the headstone for a long time, as if waiting for an answer, and well… I was. The wind softly blew by and my ponytail blew back over my shoulder where it whipped my right cheek a bit. The wind died and my ponytail fell back down. "Do I deserve this? Why was I the one who survived? I don't understand it. I don't understand it at all." My voice began to crack at this point.

My folded my hands together and brought them up to my face. My head lowered, causing my bangs to cover my eyes. That was a good thing seeing as I was crying now and I really wanted to avoid someone seeing.

"They try to explain it to me, but I still don't know." I continued. "I still have a ways to go before I can understand a lot of things. I supposed that's just how it is." I used the back of my hand, which was covered by my long sleeved shirt, to wipe away my tears. "I'm really sorry about all of this Jun. I'm still the stupid little girl who knows absolutely nothing when she came here in the first place. I thought I grew but I haven't. I'll keep trying though, so when I'm grown up, I'll come back and show you." I stood up and dusting my pants of any dirt and rocks. "Thank you for everything. Thank you so much." I bowed deeply. "If you see my parents, tell them I said hi, ok?" My smile came back.

"Goodbye, Jun."

I spun my heel and hurriedly walked back to my friends. They all turned around, greeting me as I neared them. I threw my arms around Eiji's waist and buried my face into his shirt.

"**Are you okay?**"

I nodded.

"**I did it. I said goodbye.**" I mumbled. We pulled away from each other. "**But not for forever.**" I smiled up at him. "**When I grow some more, I'm going to come back and show her.**"

Eiji smiled back at me. "**And when you do, I'll be with you.**"

My smile broadened. "**Yes!**"

"**Ok you two love birds~,**" Momo called out to us. "**That's enough of that! I'm starving! Let's eat!**"

"**Food sounds great!**" Keitaro agreed.

"**We can go to my dad's sushi shop if you'd all like.**" Taka offered.

"**Yeah! Let's go!**" Lucy cheered. She grabbed Fuji's hand before rushing off.

"**Oi! Don't leave us!**" Momo shouted.

"**Hurry before Lucy eats all the food!**" Keitaro joked as he began to run after them.

We all soon followed. Lucy was in front, dragging Fuji behind her. Fuji didn't mind it though. He just kept smiling. Miki and I were running next to each other. We exchanged glances and smiled at one another. We raced through town towards Taka's dad's sushi shop. His dad didn't seem too surprised with our sudden arrival. He happily agreed to serve us. We all took seats at the counter, and some at a couple of tables nearby. Momo grabbed a chair next to me at the counter, and Ryoma sat on my other side.

The two boys had dared to try and steal my sushi again – which I have to admit, they got – but I was able to save most! …Kind of. Eiji found it hilarious and joined it. It was like old times again. And for that I was grateful.

I wasn't the only who was going through stress. We all were. I realized that everything wasn't always going to be the same. Some days we would just be tired of each other. And that was alright. I understood that well enough.

"**Fuji-sama~! It is fate for us to meet again like thi- AH! IT'S YOU!**" Ryoma and I turned to look at the person speaking who just entered. Her usually short purple hair was not lying against her shoulders but instead it was put into a low pony tail. Her cheeks were flushed red, sweat beaded down her neck, and the outfit she was wearing was something of a running one.

Lucy twitched upon seeing her.

"**Get away from Fuji-sama!**" Jasmine demanded.

Lucy smirked. She wrapped her arms around Fuji's left and rubbed her cheek against his arm, her smirk broadening and become much more evil. "**You mean my boyfriend~?**" she said aloud.

Jasmine's face turned completely red and I could have sworn I saw steam coming out of her ears like those old cartoons. "**B-b-b-b-boyfriend? !**" she exclaimed.

Lucy stuck out her tongue. "**That's right! My boyfriend!**"

"**No, Fuji-sama! You mustn't be tainted by her!**" Jasmine cried out.

"**You're the one who would taint him!**" Lucy exclaimed back.

"**Excuse me? !**"

"**You started it first!**"

The two girls continued to bicker. Meanwhile, Fuji took back his seat and continued eating.

"**Oi, Fuji-kun, aren't you going to do something about those two?**" Oishi asked.

"**Saa… I think it would be better if they solved it out for themselves, don't you?**" Fuji replied, dipping his sushi into a sauce then plopping it into his mouth.

"**You just like the idea of those two fighting over you, don't you?**" Momo eyed him.

Fuji smiled. "**I just like the idea of Lucy-chan getting all worked up.**"

"**So evil…**" Momo and Ryoma both whispered.

"Do you think it'll break out into a cat fight?" Keitaro leaned against me as the two of us watched Lucy and Jasmine bicker over crayons and sometimes Fuji.

"I hope not." I replied.

"I do. I want to see who will win." Keitaro grinned.

"You're so mean."

"Hey, I'm rooting for Lucy! No need to call me mean."

"Keitaro-!"

"I'VE ALREADY MADE THE BET YOU CAN'T MAKE ME STOP IT!"

Keitaro ran off and hid behind Kaidoh. Until he realized who he was hiding behind and then he hid behind Tezuka until he also realized who that was and then hid behind Miki.

"I can't believe you're such a baby." Miki sighed.

"I am not!" Keitaro pouted.

"Kihara-san, can you please get that camera out of my face." Miki asked, pushing Shinji's camera away from her face.

Shinji smiled. "But you have such a pretty face, Mi-chan."

Keitaro fumed. "Don't hit on her!"

"Jealous?"

"No!"

I shook my head, but smiled nonetheless.

"**Liz-chan~**," A familiar pair of arms wrapped themselves around me.

"**Yes, Eiji-kun**?"

"**Can I have a bite?**"

I looked at my sushi. "**Uhm… But I already have wasabi on all of them…**"

Eiji made a disgusted sound. "**So cruel, Liz-chan!**"

I chuckled. "**But it's so good!**" I grabbed a piece and brought it up to his mouth. "**Come on, just give it a try!**" I waved it in front of him. Eiji backed away and retreated back to his normal spot at the other end of the counter.

"**So cruel, senpai.**" Ryoma blandly said.

I shrugged. "**He'll be fine.**"

Our lunch continued on with Lucy and Jasmine bickering until Lucy's older brother, Bob, happened to pass by and see the two fighting. Bob dragged Jasmine away against her will, and things seemed to calm down soon after.

"**Are you okay, senpai?**"

I looked up to Momo. "**Yeah… I'm fine. Much better now.**" I smiled to myself, glancing back down at the food in front of me. "**It wasn't a goodbye as in I'll never come back. I'll go back eventually.**"

"**AAAAAAAHHHHH!**"

Everyone turned their heads. Lucy pointed directly at Keitaro and Miki with her mouth wide open like she had seen something horrifying.

"**What is it?**" Taka curiously asked.

"**THEY…THEY…KISSED!**"

I almost had spit out my food.

"**HUH?**"

Miki and Keitaro glanced at one another and then shrugged.

"**We forgot to tell you, but we've been dating for a year now.**" Miki said.

Life sure can be surprising…

* * *

**LP8: **And that's the end of that. Thanks to:** mewmewlover23, i-summon-my-army-of-muffins, gimmefood, Vermouth01, and girl-of-anime **for reviewing and to those who had favorite/story alerted and to those who followed this story despite a lot of changes (like the Japanese.)

**Bloodpuppy****: **T_T

**LP8**: It took a while, but it's finally finished. We originally had a different outcome for the end (Elizabeth in a coma) but Bloodpuppy refused to let it end so sadly. BOO!

**Bloodpuppy: **I saved many of you from crying!

**LP8**: xD Anyway, thanks again everyone!

**Both: **BYE!


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